The trial captain watched as certain trainers broke off from the larger group and headed her way. She tapped a finger against a Pokeball in her hand impatiently. A puffy winter coat had been draped over her shoulders, despite her protests of not needing it. It got colder than this on the mountain, she was fine. Jet had noticed she was shivering, though. Once the group looked it had finished forming, Athena walked around the perimeter and handed out maps. As she spoke to the group, she held up a map of her own and traced her finger along the path to the waterfall.
“Ok everyone!” She called out, loud enough to hear over the rushing wind. “We’re headed up to the waterfall. Normally we have people clear the trials down here before allowing them access, but this is an emergency. That being said, I need everyone to stay on their toes. There are several wild Pokemon riled up because of this storm, and there is no telling when or where they will attack. Don’t be afraid to ask for help if you need it, we’re a team here, understood?”
The young trial captain waited for an affirmative response from the trainers she was now in charge of. To rally them into action, she threw a fist into the air and whooped. Then, she tossed a Pokeball, calling out her Altaria. The fluffy Dragon-type trilled happily to see its trainer and allowed her to climb on to its back.

Athena and her Altaria took off, beckoning the rest of the group to follow. The Altaria flew low, sometimes circling around the group to make sure no one was falling behind. As the group climbed the trail to the waterfall, the blizzard only got stronger. Even strong Fire-types like Keith’s Camperupt and Jayson’s Rapidash were having a difficult time against the strong winds. The landscape looked completely different from what anyone who had visited the Cloud Garden had seen before. The normally flourishing Rose Garden was frozen, the hedge sculptures transformed into ice. The Plains had become a never-ending blanket of pure white. Before long, the group came upon a large red Torii gate, its color stark contrast to the rest of the environment. Athena touched town on her Altaria and ran through the gate into the Stone Shrine, slipping a bit on ice. A loud Howl echoed through the air, and a pair of Lycanroc tore through the snow in front of the Shrine. A shrine maiden and a girl with blue hair were poised for battle. The older woman directed her Poliwrath to beat an enemy Sneasel into Submission. The Water and Fighting-Type grabbed its opponent and sent it flying into a nearby rock formation. The Sneasel hissed in pain, then turned and fled.
“That’s the last of them... for now.” The trial captain Marina stated. The other trial captain, Madoka, nodded. Her two Lycanroc returned to her side and she patted them worriedly. The two girls spotted Athena and the group of trainers approaching them.
“I’m headed up to the waterfall with these trainers,” Athena informed Marina and Madoka.
“Be careful,” Madoka warned, her face looked grim. “There’s…something up there.”
“I know.” Athena turned to look at her group of trainers. “I think everyone here is ready to face whatever comes.” She gave the group a thumbs-up.

Madoka brought Athena and the group to the threshold between the Stone Shrine and the Starline Waterfall. Her and Marina would stay back at the Shrine, serving as a barrier to any powerful Pokemon that might try to attack the lowest level of the Cloud Garden. The waterfall group trudged along a short path before reaching a clearing with a few snow-covered trees. It was quiet, save for the whistling of the wind. The normally crashing waterfall was frozen solid, its cascades brought to a standstill by the power of the storm. Far above, at the top of the waterfall, was something spherical. It floated menacingly, and seemed to be watching as the group of trainers gathered around. Athena retrieved another Pokeball from her belt, calling forth her Clefable. The Fairy type endured the shock of the sudden cold, and soon looked ready for battle. The trial captain turned to her group and began giving instructions.
“Everyone here?” She attempted to do a quick headcount. “I want to recommend that-“ She was cut off by a low rumbling noise. All around the waterfall, shadowy figures began to raise into the air. As the light hit them, they sparkled and glittered like the rest of the ice around them. The Pokemon filled the air, looking over the group with faces that would probably be considered cute if there weren’t so many of them. With swirling, white tops and a crystallized body, these Pokemon were at home in this altered environment. The sphere at the top of the waterfall opened and let out a loud cry. This call was answered by the Ice-types surrounding the group. A cluster of the smallest Vanillite whipped up an Icy Wind, adding more ice and snow to the already raging storm. Other Vanillite, along with three Vanillish fired Ice Beams haphazardly at the group, hoping to scatter them. Two brave Vanilluxe, looking like the leaders of the group lowered themselves into the group of trainers, giggling as they raised their defenses with Harden and causing snow to crash down with Avalanche.
Athena and her Pokemon had already jumped into the fray. Her Clefable was going after a Vanillish with Wake-Up Slap.

Now isn’t the time for a brain freeze, get in there!

In order to keep things organized for us to update, please use only 1 Pokemon in combat at a time and order up to no more than 3 attacks at a time. Reminder: this campaign will be updated every weekend around Saturday/Sunday, so if you are unable to reply in time do not worry. There is no penalty for missing an update; simply reply to the latest update to keep up with the plot. Please reply in DeepSkyBlue

There was a large gathering in the town square of Galea Town. As Athena counted heads, she was moved by the number of trainers who had answered her call and travelled to the Cloud Garden to help out. Clearing her throat, she finally addressed the crowd. “Hi everyone, I’d like to thank you all for coming here! What we are about to face is on a scale too large for all of us who call this place home, so every bit of assistance does a world of good.” Many of the Galean citizens who are in attendance applauded, showing their appreciation for all of the visitors. “For those of you who help take down the Pokemon controlling the Starline Waterfall, please follow me for more details. If you wish to stay here and help the town, Jet here will organize things. Thank you!”

...

Following the sounds of heated shouting and angry screeches, the group came upon a pair of men and their Pokemon. It was none other than Adam and Isaac, the father and son of the Applewood family, and their Herdier named Lady and Miltank named Bessie. Neither Pokemon was in good condition as they were surrounded by a mob of Sneasel. Bessie darted around, trying her best to Rollout through the snow, but it was tough to gain traction against the quicker opponents and the Miltank was struggling to catch her breath.

With the new group of trainers approaching, the two farmers let out a sigh of relief while the Sneasels hissed angrily. “Thank god you’ve come!” Adam exclaimed, out of breath himself. Looking around, there appeared to be more Sneasel than the eye could count, and they were moving too fast that it would have been impossible to try. "Let’s start thinning out their numbers and then we can hopefully scare off the leftovers,” Jet called out while tossing a Pokeball. A Skarmory appeared and quickly took to the air before swooping down and hitting a Sneasel with a Steel Wing. The Sneasel shrieked in pain, which seemed to echo throughout the orchard.

The rest of the Sneasels growled in unison until a loud rustling in the trees behind them got nearer and nearer. Bursting into the clearing was a Weavile, who was chowing down on a berry in its hand. “Weav…” it hissed, looking to take charge of the situation. “That must be their leader!” Isaac called out while bending over to tend to Lady. Jet nodded in agreement. “If we can take down their leader, it might make things easier for us!” As it stared down the group of trainer, Weavile let out a menacing hiss. This bandit was a tough customer, and it appeared to have no intentions of backing down from its hoard of berries.

In order to keep things organized for us to update, please use only 1 Pokemon in combat at a time and order up to no more than 3 attacks at a time. Reminder: this campaign will be updated every weekend around Saturday/Sunday, so if you are unable to reply in time do not worry. There is no penalty for missing an update; simply reply to the latest update to keep up with the plot. Please reply in Paleturquoise

Surprisingly, there seemed to be quite the squad of trainers willing to help out the cause. A few familiar faces were heading up the waterfall (was that that Austin kid?) while his own group was full of people he hadn't heard of before. A dozen of them would defend the town, while the other dozen or so would assault the waterfall, and the first stop in the field was an orchard to the north, with transportation provided. Alex gave another shiver as he drew the cloak closer, before asking for a loan of a jacket from one of the rangers, a request that was granted alongside a map of the mountain.

Hefting onto the carriage, drawn by a hefty equine pokemon of sorts he wasn't familiar with, the group began to make their way to the Oran Orchard. The jacket was thick enough, and his gauntlet fit through easily as he slung the cloak over shoulders and fastened it around the neck like a thick cape, while the scenery before him showed just what devastation was caused by this unnatural storm. White as far as the eye could see, broken homes with footprints dotting them, and the orchard itself from the outside was a sorry sight. Trees frostbitten and ruined, some snapped in two, and signs of struggle.

However, the cries of help got Alex practically vaulting out of the carriage before it stopped, the human landing feet first into snow up to the knees before he pushed through with the others to the sight of a Herdier and Miltank in a bad way, surrounded by...Sneasel. This wasn't good. To make matters worse, the ranger's Skarmory also dragged the leader of these bandit pokemon out, a rather menacing Weavile, who hissed at the team.

Alex looked the ice pokemon in the eyes, and spat in disgust. Sneasel were all about speed, and the snow would make movement for anything not airborne sluggish, yet these lightweight pokemon would run rings around them. Too many to slow down, but perhaps there was a way round this...

"Nuhuko, at arms!" he barked, gauntlet clasping around a moon ball before releasing the occupant, the pumpkin coloured Lunatone leering with orange eyes at the group, before turning its attention towards the Weavile in particular. "These things are going to be faster than us, so we need to turn the tides. You might be weak to dark moves, but you're still a rock type, and that means you have plenty of tricks. Fire a power gem at Weavile an force it to act, then take time to set up as wide a trick room as you can muster. Expend what you can to get it up, we need to remove the advantage these cats have over us. Don't worry about offence too much, the aim right now is to ensure we give our allies a safe spot where these Sneasel have their main weapon removed."

Turning to the other trainers, Alex spoke up. "Guys, gimme a bit of support here until this Trick Room's up! Hold off the Sneasel, then strike when the field changes and they're slowed!" It was early days, but as far as he knew, crippling the opposition was paramount. And if the Weavile indeed went for the floating rock bait, at least Nuhuko had plenty of ways to pile on the pain.

The trial captain watched as certain trainers broke off from the larger group and headed her way. She tapped a finger against a Pokeball in her hand impatiently. A puffy winter coat had been draped over her shoulders, despite her protests of not needing it. It got colder than this on the mountain, she was fine. Jet had noticed she was shivering, though. Once the group looked it had finished forming, Athena walked around the perimeter and handed out maps. As she spoke to the group, she held up a map of her own and traced her finger along the path to the waterfall.
“Ok everyone!” She called out, loud enough to hear over the rushing wind. “We’re headed up to the waterfall. Normally we have people clear the trials down here before allowing them access, but this is an emergency. That being said, I need everyone to stay on their toes. There are several wild Pokemon riled up because of this storm, and there is no telling when or where they will attack. Don’t be afraid to ask for help if you need it, we’re a team here, understood?”
The young trial captain waited for an affirmative response from the trainers she was now in charge of. To rally them into action, she threw a fist into the air and whooped. Then, she tossed a Pokeball, calling out her Altaria. The fluffy Dragon-type trilled happily to see its trainer and allowed her to climb on to its back.

Athena and her Altaria took off, beckoning the rest of the group to follow. The Altaria flew low, sometimes circling around the group to make sure no one was falling behind. As the group climbed the trail to the waterfall, the blizzard only got stronger. Even strong Fire-types like Keith’s Camperupt and Jayson’s Rapidash were having a difficult time against the strong winds. The landscape looked completely different from what anyone who had visited the Cloud Garden had seen before. The normally flourishing Rose Garden was frozen, the hedge sculptures transformed into ice. The Plains had become a never-ending blanket of pure white. Before long, the group came upon a large red Torii gate, its color stark contrast to the rest of the environment. Athena touched town on her Altaria and ran through the gate into the Stone Shrine, slipping a bit on ice. A loud Howl echoed through the air, and a pair of Lycanroc tore through the snow in front of the Shrine. A shrine maiden and a girl with blue hair were poised for battle. The older woman directed her Poliwrath to beat an enemy Sneasel into Submission. The Water and Fighting-Type grabbed its opponent and sent it flying into a nearby rock formation. The Sneasel hissed in pain, then turned and fled.
“That’s the last of them... for now.” The trial captain Marina stated. The other trial captain, Madoka, nodded. Her two Lycanroc returned to her side and she patted them worriedly. The two girls spotted Athena and the group of trainers approaching them.
“I’m headed up to the waterfall with these trainers,” Athena informed Marina and Madoka.
“Be careful,” Madoka warned, her face looked grim. “There’s…something up there.”
“I know.” Athena turned to look at her group of trainers. “I think everyone here is ready to face whatever comes.” She gave the group a thumbs-up.

Madoka brought Athena and the group to the threshold between the Stone Shrine and the Starline Waterfall. Her and Marina would stay back at the Shrine, serving as a barrier to any powerful Pokemon that might try to attack the lowest level of the Cloud Garden. The waterfall group trudged along a short path before reaching a clearing with a few snow-covered trees. It was quiet, save for the whistling of the wind. The normally crashing waterfall was frozen solid, its cascades brought to a standstill by the power of the storm. Far above, at the top of the waterfall, was something spherical. It floated menacingly, and seemed to be watching as the group of trainers gathered around. Athena retrieved another Pokeball from her belt, calling forth her Clefable. The Fairy type endured the shock of the sudden cold, and soon looked ready for battle. The trial captain turned to her group and began giving instructions.
“Everyone here?” She attempted to do a quick headcount. “I want to recommend that-“ She was cut off by a low rumbling noise. All around the waterfall, shadowy figures began to raise into the air. As the light hit them, they sparkled and glittered like the rest of the ice around them. The Pokemon filled the air, looking over the group with faces that would probably be considered cute if there weren’t so many of them. With swirling, white tops and a crystallized body, these Pokemon were at home in this altered environment. The sphere at the top of the waterfall opened and let out a loud cry. This call was answered by the Ice-types surrounding the group. A cluster of the smallest Vanillite whipped up an Icy Wind, adding more ice and snow to the already raging storm. Other Vanillite, along with three Vanillish fired Ice Beams haphazardly at the group, hoping to scatter them. Two brave Vanilluxe, looking like the leaders of the group lowered themselves into the group of trainers, giggling as they raised their defenses with Harden and causing snow to crash down with Avalanche.
Athena and her Pokemon had already jumped into the fray. Her Clefable was going after a Vanillish with Wake-Up Slap.

Now isn’t the time for a brain freeze, get in there!

In order to keep things organized for us to update, please use only 1 Pokemon in combat at a time and order up to no more than 3 attacks at a time. Reminder: this campaign will be updated every weekend around Saturday/Sunday, so if you are unable to reply in time do not worry. There is no penalty for missing an update; simply reply to the latest update to keep up with the plot. Please reply in DeepSkyBlue

Keith was far from the only Trainer to join the group heading up to the waterfall. Good thing, too, he knew- Keith's was a powerful team of Pokémon, but he wasn't fool enough to think, even for a moment, that just his team would be enough to tackle the icy threat what that awaited them. A number of Trainers were gathered along with him. Familiar faces among them included Keith's friend Hyrem, as well as Lucas and Tate, two other Trainers Keith was acquainted with. For one moment, he even thought he'd seen Levin Sanders, a skilled Trainer and former battle referee who hadn't been heard from in Fizzytopia for a long time, but it was not the case. Was the cold getting to Keith already in spite of the heat coming off his ride? That scientist didn't even look like Levin. How could he have possibly made that connection?

Deciding to not dwell on this any longer, Keith turned his attention to the trial captain who was waiting. Well, had been waiting- it was around this time she seemed to decide that everyone who was gonna answer the call was present and accounted for. She passed out maps of the area, then spoke to the group, explaining that while the waterfall was generally only accessible to those who had cleared the trials, emergency circumstances made it necessary for them to bend this rule. Keith nodded as she explained that everyone had to be alert and on the lookout for the riled-up wild Pokémon, and that those who needed help need not be shy about asking for it. They were, after all, a team. And Keith knew it, too- he had no intention of deluding himself into thinking that he was gonna just get this all done by himself. Certainly he hoped to contribute, and substantially so, to help out as best he could, but if he needed help at any point, he wasn't gonna be too proud to ask. "Understood," Keith called back in response.

"Dat's right!" Meowth chimed in.

"I hear ya loud and clear," nodded Vinny.

Athena then sent out her Altaria and climbed onto its back, and as Altaria took off, Vinny started to follow. Occasionally, Altaria tried to ensure nobody fell behind by circling around, and despite how strong Vinny was,the harsh winds were making things tough on him, and so he was grateful for said circling. That being said, in no way was Vinny letting the harsh conditions deter him. No matter how much the winds slowed him down, they sure as hell weren't stopping him. "Doing OK, Vinny?" Keith practically screamed to make himself heard over the howling winds.

And keep it up Vinny did. They trudged through the frozen landscape, until they reached the Stone Shrine, where an older woman's Poliwrath could be seen driving off a Sneasel with a well-placed Submission attack. A Howl pierced the air, and a pair of canine-like creatures raced through the snow to get to Madoka, another trial captain. Keith, who had never seen a Lycanroc of any variety before, was intrigued by both varieties he saw right now, and took out his Pokédex.

"Lycanroc, the Wolf Pokémon," said Keith's Pokédex. "A Rock-type, and the evolved form of Rockruff. The form Lycanroc is in depends on the time of day during which it evolved from Rockruff. During the day, Rockruff evolves into Midday Lycanroc. Midday Lycanroc lives alone and does not form a pack. It is fiercely loyal to Trainers who were able to put up with it in its more unruly stage. At night, Rockruff evolves into Midnight Lycanroc. Midnight Lycanroc loves nothing more than to battle, becoming excited when facing strong opponents. It specializes in counterattacks, and despises Trainers who do not work well with it."

"Cool," Keith murmured, eyeing the Lycanroc. The Midnight Lycanroc in particular caught his attention, not only in appearance but also in description- a Pokémon that so loved to battle sounded like Keith's kind of Pokémon.

But this was no time to focus on that! While the two trial captains they came across were to stay behind to fend off wild Pokémon there, the group pressed onward, headed towards the waterfall. Except, Keith as Keith could see, "waterfall" didn't seem to be the correct descriptive term anymore. What Keith supposed was usually a fast-moving current of water constantly cascading downwards now stood as a wall of ice. And, perhaps even more ominously, a floating spherical... something... hovered above the waterfall. Keith shivered, only in part due to the cold- was it his imagination, or was that sphere watching them?

Athena attempted a headcount, but had no chance to say very much to anyone before a low rumbling noise cut her off. Shadowy figures rose into the air all around the waterfall, sparkling in the light like the snow and ice they were made up of. "What are they?" Keith wondered out loud, still clutching his Koffing-purple Pokédex.

"Vanillite, the Fresh Snow Pokémon. An Ice-type," droned the device. "Vanillite's frozen breath can cause snow to fall. It sleeps beneath the snow at night, and is said to have been born from icicles bathed in the morning sun."

"They're kinda cute," Keith remarked, though he seemed a bit concerned nonetheless. He turned his Pokédex from the Vanillite to the larger creatures accompanying them.

"Vanillish, the Icy Snow Pokémon. An Ice-type, and the evolved form of Vanillite," said the Pokédex. "Vanillish's natural habitat is snowy mountains. It creates ice particles and hides among them to conceal itself from enemies." And then, Keith turned the Pokédex on the clear leaders of the opposing group. "Vanilluxe, the Snowstorm Pokémon. An Ice-type, and the evolved form of Vanillish. Each of its two heads have a brain, and when both heads are angry, it buries everything in snow by generating a violent Blizzard."

As Keith put his Pokédex away, Athena had already sprang into action, sending out a Clefable to combat one of the Vanillish. This, Keith knew, was his cue to get in on the fray as well. He reached for the Level Ball on his belt, intent on calling upon Kyle to take on one of the Vanilluxe, but before he could reach the Heatmor's ball, it was the Poison Ball upon Keith's belt that opened of its own volition. Keith was surprised to see a blast of light erupt from his belt, taking the shape of a reddish-pink Mareanie on the snowy landscape. Aster sparkled as she appeared, the sapphire-blue sparkles looking especially nice amid the falling snow, but this, Keith knew, was hardly the time or place to get hung up on that.

"Then let's go!" grinned Keith. "Aster, use Toxic! Follow that up with a Liquidation attack, and then let it taste your Venoshock!" He was pleasantly surprised- normally, Aster needed no small amount of encouragement to head on into battle, particularly against so many opponents. He knew Aster had been getting stronger as of late, but it hadn't escaped his notice that said strength seemed to have come with a side order of confidence.

__________________

My Shiny Pokémon (not up for trade, I don't do requests for Shiny banners or recolored Pokken artwork). FB team banners like the one above, however, those I do requests for.

There was a large gathering in the town square of Galea Town. As Athena counted heads, she was moved by the number of trainers who had answered her call and travelled to the Cloud Garden to help out. Clearing her throat, she finally addressed the crowd. “Hi everyone, I’d like to thank you all for coming here! What we are about to face is on a scale too large for all of us who call this place home, so every bit of assistance does a world of good.” Many of the Galean citizens who are in attendance applauded, showing their appreciation for all of the visitors. “For those of you who help take down the Pokemon controlling the Starline Waterfall, please follow me for more details. If you wish to stay here and help the town, Jet here will organize things. Thank you!”

As Athena broke off from the gathering with a group of trainers, the ranger known as Jet stepped forward to address the remainder. “Like Athena said, thank you for coming to help. Every bit matters!” Standing next to Jet was Samuel the woodcutter who was accompanied by men and women from the town. They were each carrying a small bundle of parchment, which they began passing out to the trainers. Upon closer inspection, the trainers had been handed a map. “As I speak there is a large number of wild Pokemon sweeping across the region taking over the environment, eating crops, and destroying property. Our first task is to head up towards the Oran Orchard and save their farm from ravenous Pokemon. Here is a map of the Cloud Garden for your personal use.”

“We are located here, in the red area by the lake. The small green dot to the northwest of town is known as the Rose Garden while the thin green strip directly north is Oran Orchard. Time is of the essence, so in order to make sure we get there quickly, some of the residents here have assembled a couple of sleighs to take us to the Orchard. Samuel here will lead the way,” Jet concluded, motioning over to the woodsman. Samuel nodded, adding, “Thanks, Jet. Right this way, folks.”

After Jet finished speaking, Samuel guided the trainers down the street to the edge of town. Awaiting them were two large wooden carriages where the wheels had been replaced with long wooden blades to traverse the snow and ice. Before the two sleighs were a pair of Mudsdales that were tied up and ready to go. Because they were agricultural Pokemon, they weren’t ready to take on combat, but they were certainly strong enough to pull a carriage full of trainers. The Mudsdales didn’t seem too comfortable with the cold temperature, but were ready to do their job regardless. With twelve trainers remaining behind to assist the town, Jet had six board each carriage before they set off.

As the Mudsdales left town and trotted north, the towering trees of the Cloud Forest appeared on the horizon. Everything had been coated in a layer of bright white snow, and snowflakes continued to trickle down from above, forever replenishing an endless supply of white. Along the way they passed a few countryside houses, most of which had been submerged in snow and appeared abandoned for the time being. Some of the houses appeared to have their windows broken in, as if something had already ransacked the house. Small animal footprints in the snow seemed to confirm that suspicion.

Eventually the two carriages arrived at a quaint farm known as the Oran Orchard where they found rows and rows of berry trees ruined by the cold temperature. Several of them had even been snapped in two, as if there was a violent struggle. Accompanying the destruction was a chorus of grunts and yells coming from further in the orchard. “Quick, let’s go help them out!” Samuel called out, jumping out of one of the sleighs and onto the thick snow below. With Jet and the other trainers following in pursuit, they made their way deeper into the cluster of berry trees.

Following the sounds of heated shouting and angry screeches, the group came upon a pair of men and their Pokemon. It was none other than Adam and Isaac, the father and son of the Applewood family, and their Herdier named Lady and Miltank named Bessie. Neither Pokemon was in good condition as they were surrounded by a mob of Sneasel. Bessie darted around, trying her best to Rollout through the snow, but it was tough to gain traction against the quicker opponents and the Miltank was struggling to catch her breath.

With the new group of trainers approaching, the two farmers let out a sigh of relief while the Sneasels hissed angrily. “Thank god you’ve come!” Adam exclaimed, out of breath himself. Looking around, there appeared to be more Sneasel than the eye could count, and they were moving too fast that it would have been impossible to try. "Let’s start thinning out their numbers and then we can hopefully scare off the leftovers,” Jet called out while tossing a Pokeball. A Skarmory appeared and quickly took to the air before swooping down and hitting a Sneasel with a Steel Wing. The Sneasel shrieked in pain, which seemed to echo throughout the orchard.

The rest of the Sneasels growled in unison until a loud rustling in the trees behind them got nearer and nearer. Bursting into the clearing was a Weavile, who was chowing down on a berry in its hand. “Weav…” it hissed, looking to take charge of the situation. “That must be their leader!” Isaac called out while bending over to tend to Lady. Jet nodded in agreement. “If we can take down their leader, it might make things easier for us!” As it stared down the group of trainer, Weavile let out a menacing hiss. This bandit was a tough customer, and it appeared to have no intentions of backing down from its hoard of berries.

In order to keep things organized for us to update, please use only 1 Pokemon in combat at a time and order up to no more than 3 attacks at a time. Reminder: this campaign will be updated every weekend around Saturday/Sunday, so if you are unable to reply in time do not worry. There is no penalty for missing an update; simply reply to the latest update to keep up with the plot. Please reply in Paleturquoise

Bill looked among the group of trainers that was in his. He did not recognize any of them offhand. Still though it's a big Poke-world, and there's no doubt in Bill's mind that he hadn't met everyone in it yet. However, as the carriages approached the Berry gardens, he saw the devastating effects. He had heard of Hoennese legends of Pokemon being able to change weather to this kind of extreme, but none of them involved snow and ice.

"What the heck happened here?" he pondered aloud. He placed his hand on his chin and started massaging it.

"It seems the ice-types want to control these gardens. Perhaps they have some sort of sentiment here?" Trono said.

The caravan went to a halt, and it was a warzone outside. Sneasel were everywhere, and they had a leader. He looks at his Geodude, a still young Pokemon, then looks at the warzone. Sneasel were known to be notoriously fast, especially on land. They were fragile if you could hit them, but the problem was actually landing a blow on one, especially when they have the advantage with all the snow around. Still though, Bill couldn't back down. He turned towards his young Geodude.

"Yeah, probably best you stay back and watch this time."

"An excellent idea! I can watch how to fight then perhaps I can develop some techniques of my own."

"Something like that." Bill pulled a Pokeball off of his clip and said, "Silver, I choose you!"

A Squirtle popped out of the Pokeball, ready to fight. It got into a battle stance looking at the situation around. "You ready for this?" Silver gave a big smile and a thumbs-up towards its trainer. "Okay Silver, start things off with using Bubble around the field, then use your Water Gun to blast one of the Sneasel, follow it up with a Tackle" Silver nodded his head, eyed the closest Sneasel to initiate his attacks and took a deep breath before initializing.

The trial captain watched as certain trainers broke off from the larger group and headed her way. She tapped a finger against a Pokeball in her hand impatiently. A puffy winter coat had been draped over her shoulders, despite her protests of not needing it. It got colder than this on the mountain, she was fine. Jet had noticed she was shivering, though. Once the group looked it had finished forming, Athena walked around the perimeter and handed out maps. As she spoke to the group, she held up a map of her own and traced her finger along the path to the waterfall.
“Ok everyone!” She called out, loud enough to hear over the rushing wind. “We’re headed up to the waterfall. Normally we have people clear the trials down here before allowing them access, but this is an emergency. That being said, I need everyone to stay on their toes. There are several wild Pokemon riled up because of this storm, and there is no telling when or where they will attack. Don’t be afraid to ask for help if you need it, we’re a team here, understood?”
The young trial captain waited for an affirmative response from the trainers she was now in charge of. To rally them into action, she threw a fist into the air and whooped. Then, she tossed a Pokeball, calling out her Altaria. The fluffy Dragon-type trilled happily to see its trainer and allowed her to climb on to its back.

Athena and her Altaria took off, beckoning the rest of the group to follow. The Altaria flew low, sometimes circling around the group to make sure no one was falling behind. As the group climbed the trail to the waterfall, the blizzard only got stronger. Even strong Fire-types like Keith’s Camperupt and Jayson’s Rapidash were having a difficult time against the strong winds. The landscape looked completely different from what anyone who had visited the Cloud Garden had seen before. The normally flourishing Rose Garden was frozen, the hedge sculptures transformed into ice. The Plains had become a never-ending blanket of pure white. Before long, the group came upon a large red Torii gate, its color stark contrast to the rest of the environment. Athena touched town on her Altaria and ran through the gate into the Stone Shrine, slipping a bit on ice. A loud Howl echoed through the air, and a pair of Lycanroc tore through the snow in front of the Shrine. A shrine maiden and a girl with blue hair were poised for battle. The older woman directed her Poliwrath to beat an enemy Sneasel into Submission. The Water and Fighting-Type grabbed its opponent and sent it flying into a nearby rock formation. The Sneasel hissed in pain, then turned and fled.
“That’s the last of them... for now.” The trial captain Marina stated. The other trial captain, Madoka, nodded. Her two Lycanroc returned to her side and she patted them worriedly. The two girls spotted Athena and the group of trainers approaching them.
“I’m headed up to the waterfall with these trainers,” Athena informed Marina and Madoka.
“Be careful,” Madoka warned, her face looked grim. “There’s…something up there.”
“I know.” Athena turned to look at her group of trainers. “I think everyone here is ready to face whatever comes.” She gave the group a thumbs-up.

Madoka brought Athena and the group to the threshold between the Stone Shrine and the Starline Waterfall. Her and Marina would stay back at the Shrine, serving as a barrier to any powerful Pokemon that might try to attack the lowest level of the Cloud Garden. The waterfall group trudged along a short path before reaching a clearing with a few snow-covered trees. It was quiet, save for the whistling of the wind. The normally crashing waterfall was frozen solid, its cascades brought to a standstill by the power of the storm. Far above, at the top of the waterfall, was something spherical. It floated menacingly, and seemed to be watching as the group of trainers gathered around. Athena retrieved another Pokeball from her belt, calling forth her Clefable. The Fairy type endured the shock of the sudden cold, and soon looked ready for battle. The trial captain turned to her group and began giving instructions.
“Everyone here?” She attempted to do a quick headcount. “I want to recommend that-“ She was cut off by a low rumbling noise. All around the waterfall, shadowy figures began to raise into the air. As the light hit them, they sparkled and glittered like the rest of the ice around them. The Pokemon filled the air, looking over the group with faces that would probably be considered cute if there weren’t so many of them. With swirling, white tops and a crystallized body, these Pokemon were at home in this altered environment. The sphere at the top of the waterfall opened and let out a loud cry. This call was answered by the Ice-types surrounding the group. A cluster of the smallest Vanillite whipped up an Icy Wind, adding more ice and snow to the already raging storm. Other Vanillite, along with three Vanillish fired Ice Beams haphazardly at the group, hoping to scatter them. Two brave Vanilluxe, looking like the leaders of the group lowered themselves into the group of trainers, giggling as they raised their defenses with Harden and causing snow to crash down with Avalanche.
Athena and her Pokemon had already jumped into the fray. Her Clefable was going after a Vanillish with Wake-Up Slap.

Now isn’t the time for a brain freeze, get in there!

The scenery was terrifying as they trudged through, Alice struggling with her tiny legs and the harsh terrain. Maasa stayed close at her side, ready to help her when she slipped or stumbled, always hesitant with uneven ground as it was - nevermind when it was slippery. The young woman endured, though, much to his pride in her; blue eyes expressing silent concern at the frozen Rose Garden (what of the queens?) and other places they passed. Altaria's swooping and surfing of the skies provided a guidance and distraction from this bitter hell. She envied the other trainers with their bigger Pokemon, but knew one day she would have the likes of a Mamoswine, Machamp and Blaziken for times like this. Even an Exploud could give a piggyback!

Alice admired the Lycanroc when they reached the duo, listening to even Marina voicing concerns. She hoped to challenge them one day, knowing her own Pokemon were already strong enough, but did worry that such experienced leaders could be so frightened of all this. They pressed on, uphill, Alice at least taking solace that she'd be building muscle for all of this work, and eventually reached the ruined waterfall. It was still, but not silent, and then the horror movie happened. It looked like some kind of bad parody. Vanillite and their elders had never seemed so terrifying.

"Shit!" The blonde hurled herself out of the way of one of the attacks, glasses smudged with snow, and Masaru squealed in fear for her. He was at her side, giving gloves something to press on to heave herself upright. Alice wiped the lenses free with a damp sleeve, and decided to pick a different Pokemon to enter the fray. Recalling Maasa so that she didn't lose him, Alice selected a more ordinary sphere to throw forward, releasing a normal type in a beam of red light. Its navy ears and big, pink body stood out in the white blanket; thick fat protecting it from the full harshness of the Waterfall's conditions. She decided to target one of the leaders, confident that Millie could take them.

"Okay, Millie, time to save the Cloud Garden! Captivate one of those Vaniluxe, then go after it with zen headbutt and rollout!"

There was a large gathering in the town square of Galea Town. As Athena counted heads, she was moved by the number of trainers who had answered her call and travelled to the Cloud Garden to help out. Clearing her throat, she finally addressed the crowd. “Hi everyone, I’d like to thank you all for coming here! What we are about to face is on a scale too large for all of us who call this place home, so every bit of assistance does a world of good.” Many of the Galean citizens who are in attendance applauded, showing their appreciation for all of the visitors. “For those of you who help take down the Pokemon controlling the Starline Waterfall, please follow me for more details. If you wish to stay here and help the town, Jet here will organize things. Thank you!”

As Athena broke off from the gathering with a group of trainers, the ranger known as Jet stepped forward to address the remainder. “Like Athena said, thank you for coming to help. Every bit matters!” Standing next to Jet was Samuel the woodcutter who was accompanied by men and women from the town. They were each carrying a small bundle of parchment, which they began passing out to the trainers. Upon closer inspection, the trainers had been handed a map. “As I speak there is a large number of wild Pokemon sweeping across the region taking over the environment, eating crops, and destroying property. Our first task is to head up towards the Oran Orchard and save their farm from ravenous Pokemon. Here is a map of the Cloud Garden for your personal use.”

“We are located here, in the red area by the lake. The small green dot to the northwest of town is known as the Rose Garden while the thin green strip directly north is Oran Orchard. Time is of the essence, so in order to make sure we get there quickly, some of the residents here have assembled a couple of sleighs to take us to the Orchard. Samuel here will lead the way,” Jet concluded, motioning over to the woodsman. Samuel nodded, adding, “Thanks, Jet. Right this way, folks.”

After Jet finished speaking, Samuel guided the trainers down the street to the edge of town. Awaiting them were two large wooden carriages where the wheels had been replaced with long wooden blades to traverse the snow and ice. Before the two sleighs were a pair of Mudsdales that were tied up and ready to go. Because they were agricultural Pokemon, they weren’t ready to take on combat, but they were certainly strong enough to pull a carriage full of trainers. The Mudsdales didn’t seem too comfortable with the cold temperature, but were ready to do their job regardless. With twelve trainers remaining behind to assist the town, Jet had six board each carriage before they set off.

As the Mudsdales left town and trotted north, the towering trees of the Cloud Forest appeared on the horizon. Everything had been coated in a layer of bright white snow, and snowflakes continued to trickle down from above, forever replenishing an endless supply of white. Along the way they passed a few countryside houses, most of which had been submerged in snow and appeared abandoned for the time being. Some of the houses appeared to have their windows broken in, as if something had already ransacked the house. Small animal footprints in the snow seemed to confirm that suspicion.

Eventually the two carriages arrived at a quaint farm known as the Oran Orchard where they found rows and rows of berry trees ruined by the cold temperature. Several of them had even been snapped in two, as if there was a violent struggle. Accompanying the destruction was a chorus of grunts and yells coming from further in the orchard. “Quick, let’s go help them out!” Samuel called out, jumping out of one of the sleighs and onto the thick snow below. With Jet and the other trainers following in pursuit, they made their way deeper into the cluster of berry trees.

Following the sounds of heated shouting and angry screeches, the group came upon a pair of men and their Pokemon. It was none other than Adam and Isaac, the father and son of the Applewood family, and their Herdier named Lady and Miltank named Bessie. Neither Pokemon was in good condition as they were surrounded by a mob of Sneasel. Bessie darted around, trying her best to Rollout through the snow, but it was tough to gain traction against the quicker opponents and the Miltank was struggling to catch her breath.

With the new group of trainers approaching, the two farmers let out a sigh of relief while the Sneasels hissed angrily. “Thank god you’ve come!” Adam exclaimed, out of breath himself. Looking around, there appeared to be more Sneasel than the eye could count, and they were moving too fast that it would have been impossible to try. "Let’s start thinning out their numbers and then we can hopefully scare off the leftovers,” Jet called out while tossing a Pokeball. A Skarmory appeared and quickly took to the air before swooping down and hitting a Sneasel with a Steel Wing. The Sneasel shrieked in pain, which seemed to echo throughout the orchard.

The rest of the Sneasels growled in unison until a loud rustling in the trees behind them got nearer and nearer. Bursting into the clearing was a Weavile, who was chowing down on a berry in its hand. “Weav…” it hissed, looking to take charge of the situation. “That must be their leader!” Isaac called out while bending over to tend to Lady. Jet nodded in agreement. “If we can take down their leader, it might make things easier for us!” As it stared down the group of trainer, Weavile let out a menacing hiss. This bandit was a tough customer, and it appeared to have no intentions of backing down from its hoard of berries.

Of course it was a Weavile, complete with the traditional cohort of Sneasels. Everyone's least favorite Dark/Ice types. Dastardly villains, rogueish scoundrels and diabolical ne'er-do-wells galore, combined with the icy trickery of the frozen lands, they were definitely on their home turf. Liawe remained quietly confident however. She wasn't alone after all, she had other trainers at her back, all of whom certainly looked more capable than she, and she had Caeda and Hope at her side. She also had Calem, but she didn't know the little caterpillar was present. And besides, she thought, Caeda's in her territory regardless, the sky is her domain, as the Skarmory was unleashed into the frigid skies with a screech to mark her arrival. This was war, and Caeda was ready for blood. Time to capitalise. "Alright Caeda, here goes nothing. Throw a Rock Slide at the Sneasel horde, before diving on that Weavile with an Iron Head, followed by another Iron Head!" As the grey bird arced to begin her assault, Liawe allowed her artistic mind to take in the scene. Frost-bitten trees, majestic aerial displays, villainy rising to fight the cleansing light of the heroes, in a picturesque environment, now trapped in an empire of frost and snow. It was truly a sight to behold. It was a shame she couldn't really get some sketches down of it, but there was always later. Perhaps when I'm not at risk of being ice-cubed, she thought. And then: Damn, I really hate the cold.

The trial captain watched as certain trainers broke off from the larger group and headed her way. She tapped a finger against a Pokeball in her hand impatiently. A puffy winter coat had been draped over her shoulders, despite her protests of not needing it. It got colder than this on the mountain, she was fine. Jet had noticed she was shivering, though. Once the group looked it had finished forming, Athena walked around the perimeter and handed out maps. As she spoke to the group, she held up a map of her own and traced her finger along the path to the waterfall.
“Ok everyone!” She called out, loud enough to hear over the rushing wind. “We’re headed up to the waterfall. Normally we have people clear the trials down here before allowing them access, but this is an emergency. That being said, I need everyone to stay on their toes. There are several wild Pokemon riled up because of this storm, and there is no telling when or where they will attack. Don’t be afraid to ask for help if you need it, we’re a team here, understood?”
The young trial captain waited for an affirmative response from the trainers she was now in charge of. To rally them into action, she threw a fist into the air and whooped. Then, she tossed a Pokeball, calling out her Altaria. The fluffy Dragon-type trilled happily to see its trainer and allowed her to climb on to its back.

Athena and her Altaria took off, beckoning the rest of the group to follow. The Altaria flew low, sometimes circling around the group to make sure no one was falling behind. As the group climbed the trail to the waterfall, the blizzard only got stronger. Even strong Fire-types like Keith’s Camperupt and Jayson’s Rapidash were having a difficult time against the strong winds. The landscape looked completely different from what anyone who had visited the Cloud Garden had seen before. The normally flourishing Rose Garden was frozen, the hedge sculptures transformed into ice. The Plains had become a never-ending blanket of pure white. Before long, the group came upon a large red Torii gate, its color stark contrast to the rest of the environment. Athena touched town on her Altaria and ran through the gate into the Stone Shrine, slipping a bit on ice. A loud Howl echoed through the air, and a pair of Lycanroc tore through the snow in front of the Shrine. A shrine maiden and a girl with blue hair were poised for battle. The older woman directed her Poliwrath to beat an enemy Sneasel into Submission. The Water and Fighting-Type grabbed its opponent and sent it flying into a nearby rock formation. The Sneasel hissed in pain, then turned and fled.
“That’s the last of them... for now.” The trial captain Marina stated. The other trial captain, Madoka, nodded. Her two Lycanroc returned to her side and she patted them worriedly. The two girls spotted Athena and the group of trainers approaching them.
“I’m headed up to the waterfall with these trainers,” Athena informed Marina and Madoka.
“Be careful,” Madoka warned, her face looked grim. “There’s…something up there.”
“I know.” Athena turned to look at her group of trainers. “I think everyone here is ready to face whatever comes.” She gave the group a thumbs-up.

Madoka brought Athena and the group to the threshold between the Stone Shrine and the Starline Waterfall. Her and Marina would stay back at the Shrine, serving as a barrier to any powerful Pokemon that might try to attack the lowest level of the Cloud Garden. The waterfall group trudged along a short path before reaching a clearing with a few snow-covered trees. It was quiet, save for the whistling of the wind. The normally crashing waterfall was frozen solid, its cascades brought to a standstill by the power of the storm. Far above, at the top of the waterfall, was something spherical. It floated menacingly, and seemed to be watching as the group of trainers gathered around. Athena retrieved another Pokeball from her belt, calling forth her Clefable. The Fairy type endured the shock of the sudden cold, and soon looked ready for battle. The trial captain turned to her group and began giving instructions.
“Everyone here?” She attempted to do a quick headcount. “I want to recommend that-“ She was cut off by a low rumbling noise. All around the waterfall, shadowy figures began to raise into the air. As the light hit them, they sparkled and glittered like the rest of the ice around them. The Pokemon filled the air, looking over the group with faces that would probably be considered cute if there weren’t so many of them. With swirling, white tops and a crystallized body, these Pokemon were at home in this altered environment. The sphere at the top of the waterfall opened and let out a loud cry. This call was answered by the Ice-types surrounding the group. A cluster of the smallest Vanillite whipped up an Icy Wind, adding more ice and snow to the already raging storm. Other Vanillite, along with three Vanillish fired Ice Beams haphazardly at the group, hoping to scatter them. Two brave Vanilluxe, looking like the leaders of the group lowered themselves into the group of trainers, giggling as they raised their defenses with Harden and causing snow to crash down with Avalanche.
Athena and her Pokemon had already jumped into the fray. Her Clefable was going after a Vanillish with Wake-Up Slap.

Now isn’t the time for a brain freeze, get in there!

It seemed like almost an instant. Not long after they had arrived, they found themselves joined by a couple of the Garden's Trial Leaders. They were accomplished trainers and fighters, Jayson was glad to have their aid and guidance. They arrived at the right time, as they soon found themselves ambushed by a horde of ice creams. Vanillite, Vanillish and Vanilluxe, three Pokemon he wasn't really fond of. The Pokemon looked more like food than anything else. Regardless of that though, the Ice types had attacked them out of nowhere. There was definitely intent behind the strike, someone or something had to be pulling the strings in this hostile takeover and Jayson was eager to discover what was really going on. In order to do that though, they would have to deal with the threat at hand. Thowra was spent, he had galloped at full flight for the majority of the journey, he would need a break before he was ready to fight. Spartacus began to fly forward, but Jayson quickly held up his hand, signalling the Scizor to stop.

Despite Spartacus holding a position of leadership in his team, Jayson noticed that something had caught Balerion's eye. Following the Charmeleon's line of sight, Jayson noticed his old friend Gary. The two had hung out during his last visit to the Cloud Garden, together they had bred Balerion. They had also bred a Magikarp, much to the distaste of Balerion's mother, Ramoth. They golden Charizard was accompanying Gary, which is why Balerion was so interested. He hadn't seen his mother since he was a not so little Charmander. He was much stronger now, he had been training hard with Jayson and was now intent of proving this to his mother.

"Let's do it Balerion", Jayson nodded to the Charmeleon who turned his head to look back at the trainer, replying with a nod of his own. "How about we target that Vanilluxe? No point playing with the little ones, go big or go home right?! Strike it with an Ancient Power to get its attention from a distance. Then close the gap with a Flare Blitz before digging your claws in with a Metal Claw."

The trial captain watched as certain trainers broke off from the larger group and headed her way. She tapped a finger against a Pokeball in her hand impatiently. A puffy winter coat had been draped over her shoulders, despite her protests of not needing it. It got colder than this on the mountain, she was fine. Jet had noticed she was shivering, though. Once the group looked it had finished forming, Athena walked around the perimeter and handed out maps. As she spoke to the group, she held up a map of her own and traced her finger along the path to the waterfall.
“Ok everyone!” She called out, loud enough to hear over the rushing wind. “We’re headed up to the waterfall. Normally we have people clear the trials down here before allowing them access, but this is an emergency. That being said, I need everyone to stay on their toes. There are several wild Pokemon riled up because of this storm, and there is no telling when or where they will attack. Don’t be afraid to ask for help if you need it, we’re a team here, understood?”
The young trial captain waited for an affirmative response from the trainers she was now in charge of. To rally them into action, she threw a fist into the air and whooped. Then, she tossed a Pokeball, calling out her Altaria. The fluffy Dragon-type trilled happily to see its trainer and allowed her to climb on to its back.

Athena and her Altaria took off, beckoning the rest of the group to follow. The Altaria flew low, sometimes circling around the group to make sure no one was falling behind. As the group climbed the trail to the waterfall, the blizzard only got stronger. Even strong Fire-types like Keith’s Camperupt and Jayson’s Rapidash were having a difficult time against the strong winds. The landscape looked completely different from what anyone who had visited the Cloud Garden had seen before. The normally flourishing Rose Garden was frozen, the hedge sculptures transformed into ice. The Plains had become a never-ending blanket of pure white. Before long, the group came upon a large red Torii gate, its color stark contrast to the rest of the environment. Athena touched town on her Altaria and ran through the gate into the Stone Shrine, slipping a bit on ice. A loud Howl echoed through the air, and a pair of Lycanroc tore through the snow in front of the Shrine. A shrine maiden and a girl with blue hair were poised for battle. The older woman directed her Poliwrath to beat an enemy Sneasel into Submission. The Water and Fighting-Type grabbed its opponent and sent it flying into a nearby rock formation. The Sneasel hissed in pain, then turned and fled.
“That’s the last of them... for now.” The trial captain Marina stated. The other trial captain, Madoka, nodded. Her two Lycanroc returned to her side and she patted them worriedly. The two girls spotted Athena and the group of trainers approaching them.
“I’m headed up to the waterfall with these trainers,” Athena informed Marina and Madoka.
“Be careful,” Madoka warned, her face looked grim. “There’s…something up there.”
“I know.” Athena turned to look at her group of trainers. “I think everyone here is ready to face whatever comes.” She gave the group a thumbs-up.

Madoka brought Athena and the group to the threshold between the Stone Shrine and the Starline Waterfall. Her and Marina would stay back at the Shrine, serving as a barrier to any powerful Pokemon that might try to attack the lowest level of the Cloud Garden. The waterfall group trudged along a short path before reaching a clearing with a few snow-covered trees. It was quiet, save for the whistling of the wind. The normally crashing waterfall was frozen solid, its cascades brought to a standstill by the power of the storm. Far above, at the top of the waterfall, was something spherical. It floated menacingly, and seemed to be watching as the group of trainers gathered around. Athena retrieved another Pokeball from her belt, calling forth her Clefable. The Fairy type endured the shock of the sudden cold, and soon looked ready for battle. The trial captain turned to her group and began giving instructions.
“Everyone here?” She attempted to do a quick headcount. “I want to recommend that-“ She was cut off by a low rumbling noise. All around the waterfall, shadowy figures began to raise into the air. As the light hit them, they sparkled and glittered like the rest of the ice around them. The Pokemon filled the air, looking over the group with faces that would probably be considered cute if there weren’t so many of them. With swirling, white tops and a crystallized body, these Pokemon were at home in this altered environment. The sphere at the top of the waterfall opened and let out a loud cry. This call was answered by the Ice-types surrounding the group. A cluster of the smallest Vanillite whipped up an Icy Wind, adding more ice and snow to the already raging storm. Other Vanillite, along with three Vanillish fired Ice Beams haphazardly at the group, hoping to scatter them. Two brave Vanilluxe, looking like the leaders of the group lowered themselves into the group of trainers, giggling as they raised their defenses with Harden and causing snow to crash down with Avalanche.
Athena and her Pokemon had already jumped into the fray. Her Clefable was going after a Vanillish with Wake-Up Slap.

Now isn’t the time for a brain freeze, get in there!

In order to keep things organized for us to update, please use only 1 Pokemon in combat at a time and order up to no more than 3 attacks at a time. Reminder: this campaign will be updated every weekend around Saturday/Sunday, so if you are unable to reply in time do not worry. There is no penalty for missing an update; simply reply to the latest update to keep up with the plot. Please reply in DeepSkyBlue

The journey back to the Stone SHrine was particularly painful for Rorik. Not just because frostbite was doing a number on his hands, but because he held fond memories of the place from his last journey there - as did Guntz and Stahl. To see the place covered in snow, and the Trial Captains so desperate to fight back the icy affliction, tugged at his heartstrings. For a moment, he considered turning around and giving up on the whole ordeal, if only to preserve the fond memories he had of Cloud Garden, but...

But nobody else is giving up. All these Trainers, they look positively determined to take back the Garden. My Pokémon partners look just as eager, and... Sai clearly has such high hopes for me.

He adjusted his glasses, took a deep breath and continued to walk. As he did, he scanned his other companions, each and every one of them exuding an aura of toughness that made him feel minuscule and irrelevant, a little kid playing with the big boys. His only redeeming feature, he thought, was that he was standing on the shoulders of a Snorlax, which should score him a couple of coolness points. "Coolness" being something they didn't exactly need any more than what they already had, in general.

It wasn't long until the first threat presented itself. Under the watchful eye of something all the way atop the waterfall, several living ice-cream Pokemon materialized from the snowflakes in the air, a veritable army of Vanillite and its evolved brethren staring down the group. Immediately an assault was launched, a barrage of Ice Beams, Icy Winds and a terrain-shaping Avalanche being hurled at them almost in succession.

"Oh dear..."

It took the other Trainers no time to react at all, starting with Athena and her partner Altaria, who should by all means be vastly outclassed by the natives in this environment but showed no signs of it. Jayson, Alice, Keith and others, all of them had partners more than capable of dealing with this threat... did he?

Yes. I absolutely do!

He'd never been confidant about his field work. Put him in a lab, and he worked miracles... but battling had been entirely foreign to him up until he reached Fizzytopia. And look at him now - ready to march into battle with a group of Ace Trainers, formulating a plan all of his own and choosing the perfect companion to carry it out.

Volg growled and his flame grew in size, melting away the snow that had formed around him after the Avalanche; he was raring to go. Guntz, in turn, stared down at the Ice-Types with a familiar, hungry expression, wondering if they tasted anything like regular ice-cream; his Thick Fat made it easy for him to plow through the piled-up snow and endure the ice attacks.
But Rorik knew their power would be best employed later on - for now, he would keep his cards close to his chest, and provide back-up to the real heroes. The ones who did have enough power and experience to save the Garden - that wouldn't be him, but he could at least be a footnote in this chapter of Fizzytopia's history.

"Volg, Guntz... I will need your strength later. This round belongs to Stahl," said the Professor with a smile.

Immediately, obediently as always, the silent starfish stepped forward. Its precious blue gem, after which Rorik had named the Starmie, glistened with power. But at least for now, raw strength wasn't what Rorik had in mind.

"Those Vanilluxe are the biggest threat," declared the Heimlan as he saw Alice and Jayson go for them. "So aim a Confuse Ray at the one that isn't poisoned by Toxic!"

By crippling both generals, the rest of the army should fall. But infantry could potentially do the most damage - the small Vanillite weren't to be taken lightly either.

"Then shower the front line with a rain of Swift, and if any of them get too close for comfort, repel them with Power Gem!"

Hopefully he could whittle away the health of a large number of foes in one go, making them easy pickings for the stronger Pokemon of the vanguard team. The strategy had worked back in the War of the Roses, but back then, they were shooting at plastic ducks...

Rorik adjusted his position atop Guntz's shoulders, eyeing Volg intently all the while. If all went well, the Baimon should remained sealed, but what if the Charmeleon lost control again?...
Just then, the fourth Luxury Ball in his belt snapped open, and Zyll materialized atop Guntz's head in a shower of glittering particles. The Shiny Deino sniffed the air, sensing danger despite his blindness, but didn't make a move.

"Zyll! We had agreed to..." started Rorik, before stopping himself. "F-fine. It wouldn't be fair if you were the only one left out... But stay close to me, it's dangerous up ahead!"

Zyll nodded silently. He knew; he could sense conflict like nobody else. He found himself strangely drawn to it, despite his unwillingness to play an active role - he simply enjoyed sensing, if not seeing, events unfold.

"Now let's see how we fare against our first challenge. Hang in there Stahl! Knock 'em into next sundae!"

His team exchanged glances among themselves. The silence that followed was colder than any snowstorm.

The trial captain watched as certain trainers broke off from the larger group and headed her way. She tapped a finger against a Pokeball in her hand impatiently. A puffy winter coat had been draped over her shoulders, despite her protests of not needing it. It got colder than this on the mountain, she was fine. Jet had noticed she was shivering, though. Once the group looked it had finished forming, Athena walked around the perimeter and handed out maps. As she spoke to the group, she held up a map of her own and traced her finger along the path to the waterfall.
“Ok everyone!” She called out, loud enough to hear over the rushing wind. “We’re headed up to the waterfall. Normally we have people clear the trials down here before allowing them access, but this is an emergency. That being said, I need everyone to stay on their toes. There are several wild Pokemon riled up because of this storm, and there is no telling when or where they will attack. Don’t be afraid to ask for help if you need it, we’re a team here, understood?”
The young trial captain waited for an affirmative response from the trainers she was now in charge of. To rally them into action, she threw a fist into the air and whooped. Then, she tossed a Pokeball, calling out her Altaria. The fluffy Dragon-type trilled happily to see its trainer and allowed her to climb on to its back.

Athena and her Altaria took off, beckoning the rest of the group to follow. The Altaria flew low, sometimes circling around the group to make sure no one was falling behind. As the group climbed the trail to the waterfall, the blizzard only got stronger. Even strong Fire-types like Keith’s Camperupt and Jayson’s Rapidash were having a difficult time against the strong winds. The landscape looked completely different from what anyone who had visited the Cloud Garden had seen before. The normally flourishing Rose Garden was frozen, the hedge sculptures transformed into ice. The Plains had become a never-ending blanket of pure white. Before long, the group came upon a large red Torii gate, its color stark contrast to the rest of the environment. Athena touched town on her Altaria and ran through the gate into the Stone Shrine, slipping a bit on ice. A loud Howl echoed through the air, and a pair of Lycanroc tore through the snow in front of the Shrine. A shrine maiden and a girl with blue hair were poised for battle. The older woman directed her Poliwrath to beat an enemy Sneasel into Submission. The Water and Fighting-Type grabbed its opponent and sent it flying into a nearby rock formation. The Sneasel hissed in pain, then turned and fled.
“That’s the last of them... for now.” The trial captain Marina stated. The other trial captain, Madoka, nodded. Her two Lycanroc returned to her side and she patted them worriedly. The two girls spotted Athena and the group of trainers approaching them.
“I’m headed up to the waterfall with these trainers,” Athena informed Marina and Madoka.
“Be careful,” Madoka warned, her face looked grim. “There’s…something up there.”
“I know.” Athena turned to look at her group of trainers. “I think everyone here is ready to face whatever comes.” She gave the group a thumbs-up.

Madoka brought Athena and the group to the threshold between the Stone Shrine and the Starline Waterfall. Her and Marina would stay back at the Shrine, serving as a barrier to any powerful Pokemon that might try to attack the lowest level of the Cloud Garden. The waterfall group trudged along a short path before reaching a clearing with a few snow-covered trees. It was quiet, save for the whistling of the wind. The normally crashing waterfall was frozen solid, its cascades brought to a standstill by the power of the storm. Far above, at the top of the waterfall, was something spherical. It floated menacingly, and seemed to be watching as the group of trainers gathered around. Athena retrieved another Pokeball from her belt, calling forth her Clefable. The Fairy type endured the shock of the sudden cold, and soon looked ready for battle. The trial captain turned to her group and began giving instructions.
“Everyone here?” She attempted to do a quick headcount. “I want to recommend that-“ She was cut off by a low rumbling noise. All around the waterfall, shadowy figures began to raise into the air. As the light hit them, they sparkled and glittered like the rest of the ice around them. The Pokemon filled the air, looking over the group with faces that would probably be considered cute if there weren’t so many of them. With swirling, white tops and a crystallized body, these Pokemon were at home in this altered environment. The sphere at the top of the waterfall opened and let out a loud cry. This call was answered by the Ice-types surrounding the group. A cluster of the smallest Vanillite whipped up an Icy Wind, adding more ice and snow to the already raging storm. Other Vanillite, along with three Vanillish fired Ice Beams haphazardly at the group, hoping to scatter them. Two brave Vanilluxe, looking like the leaders of the group lowered themselves into the group of trainers, giggling as they raised their defenses with Harden and causing snow to crash down with Avalanche.
Athena and her Pokemon had already jumped into the fray. Her Clefable was going after a Vanillish with Wake-Up Slap.

Now isn’t the time for a brain freeze, get in there!

In order to keep things organized for us to update, please use only 1 Pokemon in combat at a time and order up to no more than 3 attacks at a time. Reminder: this campaign will be updated every weekend around Saturday/Sunday, so if you are unable to reply in time do not worry. There is no penalty for missing an update; simply reply to the latest update to keep up with the plot. Please reply in DeepSkyBlue

Lucas’ offer was quickly taken up by another trainer before he knew it.

"Pardon me, I'd love to take you up on that ride offer if you still have the room."

Lucas quickly turned to face the voice, and found a young lad and his three Pokémon each giving a confirming nod. Lucas grinned at noticing the cigarette in the boy’s mouth and eagerly stretched out his hand to help him up. “Of course, if in exchange I can have one of those,” he indicated the cigarette. The request was in mere jest but Lucas silently hoped he might spare one of his own if he could. He took another glance at the trainer’s three Pokémon; an Incineroar, a Zangoose and a Stunky. He looked back at the space left on the Mamoswine’s back and mulled it over. “I don’t think all your Pokémon will fit though, you’ll have to keep them in their Pokéball.”

Shortly after the boy saddled onto Snowball’s back (or didn’t), more and more trainer trickled to the gathering point, until a voice cut through the horde. “Hi everyone, I’d like to thank you all for coming here! What we are about to face is on a scale too large for all of us who call this place home, so every bit of assistance does a world of good.” At once, a crowd of citizens applauded the group of trainers. Lucas was taken back by it, not expecting gratitude so soon, and so much. ’Don’t be too eager,’ Lucas thought to himself, ’we haven’t even done anything yet.’ But despite that, Lucas waved back at the crowd with a near-cavalier attitude. The woman who made the announcement asked of all the trainers risking to go to the Starline Waterfall to follow her. After separating the elite few from the larger crowd, her voice rose once more to describe the objective while passing out maps. They were to set out to the waterfall directly. Areas that were usually off-limits to those who hadn’t passed the island’s trials were now to be opened up to the new travellers, meaning they were about to traverse locations most people would never have gotten to see otherwise.

The woman called out her Altaria nad set off ahead off the group. “Come on Snow,” Lucas urged his mammoth of a Pokémon.

The Mamoswine gave a bellowing cheer before suddenly lurching forward, nearly knocking off his rider(s).

“Easy now.” He hadn’t really gotten used to riding Snowball yet. This was one of his first times.

Lucas had never visited the Cloud Garden before, but something told him it was usually more vibrant in colour than the white sheet he saw stretched out towards the horizons. He heard whispers and voices describing gardens and plains that used to be in the location, though all he saw now was a panorama of snow. Lucas was glad he decided to take his Maoswine with him for this, even if she her pace was a slow drudge. Other unfortunately didn’t seem to be nearly as lucky with their Fire types. While the hot aura they emitted seemed to help with the cold, the bitter-cold winds were providing a tough challenge for the group. Lucas hardly recognised any of the people he was with and felt uncomfortable because of it. Only Keith he recognised from a brief encounter or two, easily spotted as he was the only one riding a Camerupt while wearing his signature hat.

Up ahead at the first barrier, a gate of immense size and colour, a Howl greeted the group uncomfortably. Snow stirred in her seat uncomfortably and nearly knocked Lucas over again. A pair of Lycanroc zipped through the snow alongside a single Poliwrath delivering his final punch to an opponent Sneasel. The two wolves further startled the Mamoswine and she reared her front legs, forcing Lucas to cling onto her fur for fear of falling off, dropping the butt of his cigarette. The Lycanroc didn’t attack though and two women confirmed for them that the real opponents were gone. Lucas did his best to ease the Mamoswine once more about the two strange Pokémon they saw, ones that were new and unfamiliar to both.

Pokédex:

Quote:

Lycanroc, the Wolf Pokémon. Its quick movements confuse its enemies. Well equipped with claws and fangs, it also uses the sharp rocks in its mane as weapons.

Quote:

Lycanroc, the Wolf Pokémon. It goads its enemies into attacking, withstands the hits, and in return, delivers a headbutt, crushing their bones with its rocky mane.

’Two entries? For one Pokémon? Lucas was slightly baffled by his Pokédex’s explanation until he saw the two different forms the Pokémon held. These must be Pokémon from the Alola region. He had never seen one until now. The day was full of new experiences for him already, though not all of it as good as the next.

The gate as it turned out was one of the barrier that was spoken of earlier that separated the island into areas for those with and without completion of the trials. The woman on her Altaria, Athena, spoke briefly with the two women - a shrine maiden and a blue-haired girl – who warned them off danger up ahead. Athena was confident though that the group of trainers could hold themselves and she gave them a thumbs up in response. Lucas was a bit perplexed by it and before he knew it he gave a thumb-up back.

-----

The sight of the Starline Waterfall was a fascinating one, but a fearsome one as well. The normally cascading stream of water was now frozen into a solid wall of ice, boasting the potential and strength of the snowstorm’s blizzards. Lucas held his gloved hand above his brow to block out as much snow and light as he could as he noticed a peculiar object at the top. A strange sphere, an orb f some kind, floated gently above. For a moment Lucas thought it was staring back at them as if it was alive.

Athena was suddenly cut off by a low rumble beneath the snowy grounding. Shadows erupted from the snow all around the waterfall, their body glistening in the pale light. Their usual happy expressions appeared more irate than usual, their cute demeanour replaced for one of fury. Lucas had an idea what kind of Pokémon it was but quickly checked his Pokédex nonetheless.

Pokédex:

Quote:

Vanillite, the Fresh Snow Pokémon. Vanillite is created from ice crystals that are illuminated by the morning sun. Its breath is 58 degrees below zero.

The strange sphere at the top of the waterfall gave out a cry, once and for all proving it was a living being. They were pre-occupied though with the Vanillite’s sudden response to the orb’s cry and hurled out an Icy Wind to compound the already chilly effects of the snowstorm. More Pokémon popped out and with Lucas’ tight grip on his Pokédex it automatically filed them into the system.

Pokédex:

Quote:

Vanillish, the Icy Snow Pokémon and the evolved form of Vanillite. Vanillish forms ice particles in the air by cooling it down, then uses them to freeze opponents.

There were three of them, firing off [B]Ice Beams, as well as…

Quote:

Vanilluxe, the Snowstorm Pokémon, and the evolved form of Vanillish. Vanilluxe forms internal clouds of snow by swallowing lots of water and can cause violent blizzards when angry.

“Da-dam-mit, it’s like a who-o-o-le fa-fa-amily reunion,” he stuttered in cold to anyone nearby. “Tho-ose last two so-und li-ike they’re responsible for this,” and as he said that the two apparent leaders lowered themselves into the group of trainers with a Harden. Athena wasted no time and called forth her Clefable for a Wake-Up Slap against one of the Vanillish.

Not long thereafter, other trainers had already called forth their allies to aid in the battle. A strange coral-starfish of sorts went for a second Vanillish. A Swinub went for a Toxic and Mud-Shot on one of the two leaders, and a Charmeleon haphazardly dived into the other(?) which a Starmie would attempt to incapacitate. Nearly all seemed to be going for the bigger targets instead. Lucas eyed the strange sphere at the top of the waterfall once more and wondered if Kong’s Rock Climb could scale the frozen waterfall towards it.

He set his mind quickly off of it and focused on the battle at hand first. Snowball gave a roar to ask if it should do anything. “Relax girl, you save your strength and try to stay out.” He scanned the area and thought about breaking up the groups of Vanillite who were chilling them with coordinated attacks. “Kong, come on out!” he yelled with zealotry.

A large ape-like figure emerged from the Pokéball with a boastful roar, pounding his chest at the same time. Slaking were known to be lazy, but on his first turns Lucas found Kong often displayed a strong motivation for action. Lucas had to act quickly before Kong lost his interest and would decide to relax. While everyone focused on the leaders and general, Lucas set his eyes on the rows of neglected soldiers. “Break up the lines Kong. Just go ape-, bananas,” he quickly corrected himself. “Hammer Arm whatever gets in your way. Cripple something with Dynamic Punch when you get the chance.”

The Slaking gave another roar of understanding, pounded his chest one last time, and practically steamrolled his way towards the ranks of Vanillite.

Not a clue if or how you want to make Truant work in this case, so have at it.

The trial captain watched as certain trainers broke off from the larger group and headed her way. She tapped a finger against a Pokeball in her hand impatiently. A puffy winter coat had been draped over her shoulders, despite her protests of not needing it. It got colder than this on the mountain, she was fine. Jet had noticed she was shivering, though. Once the group looked it had finished forming, Athena walked around the perimeter and handed out maps. As she spoke to the group, she held up a map of her own and traced her finger along the path to the waterfall.
“Ok everyone!” She called out, loud enough to hear over the rushing wind. “We’re headed up to the waterfall. Normally we have people clear the trials down here before allowing them access, but this is an emergency. That being said, I need everyone to stay on their toes. There are several wild Pokemon riled up because of this storm, and there is no telling when or where they will attack. Don’t be afraid to ask for help if you need it, we’re a team here, understood?”
The young trial captain waited for an affirmative response from the trainers she was now in charge of. To rally them into action, she threw a fist into the air and whooped. Then, she tossed a Pokeball, calling out her Altaria. The fluffy Dragon-type trilled happily to see its trainer and allowed her to climb on to its back.

Athena and her Altaria took off, beckoning the rest of the group to follow. The Altaria flew low, sometimes circling around the group to make sure no one was falling behind. As the group climbed the trail to the waterfall, the blizzard only got stronger. Even strong Fire-types like Keith’s Camperupt and Jayson’s Rapidash were having a difficult time against the strong winds. The landscape looked completely different from what anyone who had visited the Cloud Garden had seen before. The normally flourishing Rose Garden was frozen, the hedge sculptures transformed into ice. The Plains had become a never-ending blanket of pure white. Before long, the group came upon a large red Torii gate, its color stark contrast to the rest of the environment. Athena touched town on her Altaria and ran through the gate into the Stone Shrine, slipping a bit on ice. A loud Howl echoed through the air, and a pair of Lycanroc tore through the snow in front of the Shrine. A shrine maiden and a girl with blue hair were poised for battle. The older woman directed her Poliwrath to beat an enemy Sneasel into Submission. The Water and Fighting-Type grabbed its opponent and sent it flying into a nearby rock formation. The Sneasel hissed in pain, then turned and fled.
“That’s the last of them... for now.” The trial captain Marina stated. The other trial captain, Madoka, nodded. Her two Lycanroc returned to her side and she patted them worriedly. The two girls spotted Athena and the group of trainers approaching them.
“I’m headed up to the waterfall with these trainers,” Athena informed Marina and Madoka.
“Be careful,” Madoka warned, her face looked grim. “There’s…something up there.”
“I know.” Athena turned to look at her group of trainers. “I think everyone here is ready to face whatever comes.” She gave the group a thumbs-up.

Madoka brought Athena and the group to the threshold between the Stone Shrine and the Starline Waterfall. Her and Marina would stay back at the Shrine, serving as a barrier to any powerful Pokemon that might try to attack the lowest level of the Cloud Garden. The waterfall group trudged along a short path before reaching a clearing with a few snow-covered trees. It was quiet, save for the whistling of the wind. The normally crashing waterfall was frozen solid, its cascades brought to a standstill by the power of the storm. Far above, at the top of the waterfall, was something spherical. It floated menacingly, and seemed to be watching as the group of trainers gathered around. Athena retrieved another Pokeball from her belt, calling forth her Clefable. The Fairy type endured the shock of the sudden cold, and soon looked ready for battle. The trial captain turned to her group and began giving instructions.
“Everyone here?” She attempted to do a quick headcount. “I want to recommend that-“ She was cut off by a low rumbling noise. All around the waterfall, shadowy figures began to raise into the air. As the light hit them, they sparkled and glittered like the rest of the ice around them. The Pokemon filled the air, looking over the group with faces that would probably be considered cute if there weren’t so many of them. With swirling, white tops and a crystallized body, these Pokemon were at home in this altered environment. The sphere at the top of the waterfall opened and let out a loud cry. This call was answered by the Ice-types surrounding the group. A cluster of the smallest Vanillite whipped up an Icy Wind, adding more ice and snow to the already raging storm. Other Vanillite, along with three Vanillish fired Ice Beams haphazardly at the group, hoping to scatter them. Two brave Vanilluxe, looking like the leaders of the group lowered themselves into the group of trainers, giggling as they raised their defenses with Harden and causing snow to crash down with Avalanche.
Athena and her Pokemon had already jumped into the fray. Her Clefable was going after a Vanillish with Wake-Up Slap.

Now isn’t the time for a brain freeze, get in there!

In order to keep things organized for us to update, please use only 1 Pokemon in combat at a time and order up to no more than 3 attacks at a time. Reminder: this campaign will be updated every weekend around Saturday/Sunday, so if you are unable to reply in time do not worry. There is no penalty for missing an update; simply reply to the latest update to keep up with the plot. Please reply in DeepSkyBlue

{Just so people are aware of what I'm doing, instead of clogging up my post with a ton of Pokedex entries about Pokemon other players own, I'll only include the ones owned by NPCs and enemy Pokemon in the post itself while the rest will be below that inside the spoiler box.}

After securing a saddle for Kenna and being shown how to strap it on the unicorn's body, Hyrem was finally ready to ride on his Rapidash. By that time, however, an entire group of trainers was gathering, and he saw it fit to join them, many of them being trainers he recognized. A woman about his age soon guided a smaller group of trainers away from the larger group, those who would make the long journey toward the Starline Waterfall, himself included as that was where Gary potentially was. To his relief, however, one of the trainers was indeed Gary, accompanied by a Pokemon he hadn't seen in person yet, a creature that looked suspiciously like one of the Pokemon owned by a trainer spoken of in stories normally told around Christmastime, her antlers looking like eyes when stared at from the right angle. "Whew, thank goodness you're okay, Gary, I heard the news and feared the worst!" After taking a short moment to admire the Stantler and the potential of her hypnotic antlers, he looked around and spotted Keith next, along with his Meowth and a Pokemon that he hadn't seen before, an herbivore with what looked to be two small volcanoes for humps, but gathered it might be what Pelea could evolve into.

Next to catch his eye was a trainer who rode in on a Rapidash of his own that greeted Kenna on sight, to which she whinnied back excitedly, before he dismounted and brought out two other Pokemon: one of them Hyrem immediately recognized as a Scizor and the other a yellow bipedal lizard with a blunt horn atop his head and a flame on the end of his tail. There was another one of them owned by a trainer with what looked to be an enormous bear and a blue starfish, though that one looked to be a darker red, and with the way the yellow one sparkled as he came out Hyrem figured that one to be a rare variant of the species while the other was likely a more normal color. Another trainer, one that suspiciously looked like one of the top trainers of Fizzytopia, sat atop a giant boar-looking Pokemon, one that Sejuani might have been able to evolve into if Hyrem were able to keep her and had the time to raise her, and the trainer offered a ride on his Mamoswine, though Hyrem already had Kenna, so he declined the offer. The next trainer that stood out to Hyrem was a slightly older man with a Zangoose, a Stunky, and a Pokemon that could best be described as a "tiger-man", the black and orange stripes covering his muscular arms and legs, and Hyrem recalled a request to breed such a Pokemon with a willing female; he had offered to have Vi breed with this Incineroar, though nothing was set in stone just yet.

Then there was the woman who he recognized as the lady who had purchased an Eevee at the Coins for Prizes at the same time he bought Happy. She was with what looked to be a porcupine with quills that looked as though they could ignite in flames at a moment's notice, and Happy looked at her hoping she had brought his sister with her, he would like to see her again. Last, but certainly not least, was Tate, and she had brought along Kahakai, as well as the two Eevee Happy had sired, the names of Hekili and Ahi revealed to Hyrem and Happy after they had already left the Hatchery...aaaaaand Happy ran over to his family as soon as he saw them, and not necessarily out of happiness but out of worry as well: "Kai, what are you doing here, and with the kids too?? I mean, i-it's great to see you and all, but this trip to the waterfall is looking to be really dangerous! Maybe if you stayed here and helped this town, you'd be safer! Like, not that you can't handle yourself, Kai, but what about the kids? I-if anything happened to them, I..."
"Happy?" Silas called, padding his way to the scene. "Oh, I take it this is your family?"
"Yeah, I didn't think they'd be here...Silas, I have to be with them, I need to know they're safe!"
The Houndoom looked towards Kahakai and the two Eevee. "We of Team Flash Fire will do what we can, but there may be times when our trainer calls us away from you, and you will be left to your own devices."
"But-"
"And from what little I've heard about your trainer I know they care about you, and they are sufficiently capable of making sure you and your children come to the least amount of harm possible."
"No, they'll be fine! Because I'll be there with them!!" Happy looked at Silas with determination in his eyes, and Silas sighed, knowing he wasn't going to change the Flareon's mind at this point. "The three of us can accompany your family...for now." Happy gave a sigh of his own, one of relief. "Thanks, Silas." He then turned to Hekili and Ahi. "Okay, kids...I don't really like you two being in danger with us, but you can come along. You have to promise me though: you listen closely to anything your mother or I say...anything. If we tell you to hide, you hide. Is that a promise?"

“Ok everyone!” the woman named Athena called out while the Pokemon were having their conversations. “We’re headed up to the waterfall. Normally we have people clear the trials down here before allowing them access, but this is an emergency. That being said, I need everyone to stay on their toes. There are several wild Pokemon riled up because of this storm, and there is no telling when or where they will attack. Don’t be afraid to ask for help if you need it, we’re a team here, understood?”
"Got it!" Hyrem shouted out along with the others, then he watched as Athena summoned a large, blue songbird with wings and body that looked like white clouds. "Another new Pokemon! This one looks kinda cute too," he remarked before registering it on his Pokedex:

Altaria, the Humming Pokemon. Altaria are often seen flying in the clouds, using them as camouflage, and their vision has evolved to see perfectly through them as a result. The humming and singing they use to communicate with each other is beautiful to hear and lulls humans and other Pokemon asleep. They are very affectionate towards any trainers they bond with and will hug them with their cotton-like wings before using their song to allow them to sleep while snuggled against their body. If threatened, they can attack using breath weapons seen from other Dragon Pokemon.

Right then, he witnessed the Altaria taking flight, and it looked like Athena herself was riding on a cloud. "Oh right, we're supposed to be off!" he said, snapping out of his trance and refocusing on the task at hand. "Team Flash Fire, let's help Gary save his home!" After a cheer from his three Fire-types, he climbed atop Kenna's back and allowed her to lead the way, with Silas and Happy close by, Happy making sure he wasn't too far away from Kai and the kids.

**********

The journey seemed different, and it was vastly different than what Hyrem remembered the last time he was here. What little he could see was covered in nothing but white snow, and everything else was obscured by the snowstorm, a storm even Kenna and the other Fire-type mounts had difficulties trudging through. Conversation was minimal in these conditions, and it wasn't until the group came to a huge, red gate that the mood and scenery started changing. According to the map, this was where the Stone Shrine was, and Athena had her Altaria land before running through the gate to meet two more women. The younger one had two canine looking Pokemon with her, a bipedal and a quadrupedal, both of them looking fairly similar to each other. "Cool, those look like Pokemon I might want on my own team, let's check them out," he said before consulting his Pokedex again:

Lycanroc, the Wolf Pokemon. This Pokemon comes in two forms: Midday and Midnight. The Midday Form is the faster of the two, able to chase down its prey with ease. Its claws and fangs are accompanied by sharp rocks in its mane that it can use to impale its opponents, and if it is raised well from it youth, it will remain very loyal to its trainer for life. The Midnight Form trades speed for a sturdier build, one that can withstand any opponent's blows before mauling their foe with powerful melee attacks. Rather than fear what may be a more powerful enemy, it looks forward to facing off against anything in its way and will attack recklessly.

"Wow, and she has both!" he commented. "Can't wait to get even one of them..." At that moment, an impact could be heard as a Sneasel was thrown against the wall, courtesy of a blue, bipedal amphibian with a black swirl covering its white belly, before the Sneasel made its escape. "Ooo, that one looks interesting too..." he went on further before pointing his Pokedex towards the Water-type:

Poliwrath, the Tadpole Pokemon. Poliwrath are known to be masters of swimming and can swim faster and longer than any human. Their musculature supports a regular swimming lifestyle, and their bodies have never been known to tire from extended periods of swimming. One Poliwrath was reported to have been seen crossing the ocean between the Alola and Kanto regions, able to travel multiple times between the regions before taking a short rest on a whim.

"Now that's an athlete, no wonder Ms. Misty kept talking about wanting one." The three women, presumably all leaders of the zone, had a brief conversation before Athena guided everyone through the gate, the other two women staying behind to guard the gate from other invading Pokemon.

The group continued on, nothing encountered yet, until they reached the waterfall, frozen completely solid. Hyrem couldn't see Gary's base yet, though it might be covered in ice at the moment. Atop the waterfall, they could see what looked like a large sphere, though it was too far away to identify with the Pokedex for now. What could be identified, however, was a large group of Vanillite, along with five individuals that looked like bigger Vanillite, two of them having two heads each. "I remember those things, but them?" asked Hyrem before looking up both species with his Pokedex:

Vanillish, the Icy Snow Pokemon, and the evolved form of Vanillite. They existed everywhere during the Ice Age, but nowadays are limited to living in the snowy mountains. They can freeze small parts of the air solid, using the ice particles to hide themselves or to freeze their foes before shattering them with a powerful headbutt. They have been known to melt under warmer temperatures or sudden heat, their bodies being disfigured after reforming their bodies.

Vanilluxe, the Snowstorm Pokemon, and the evolved form of Vanillish. Its two heads can think independently of each other, but for the most part both minds work in sync with each other. This makes it so one head can still live on even if the other one dies earlier than it. This Pokemon can drink a large quantity of water and use it to create powerful Blizzard attacks when threatened, able to make an entire landscape covered in snow.

Hyrem gasped as he heard the last part. "You guys, these might be some of the Pokemon responsible for making the storm in the first place!" he pointed out. Such Pokemon would indeed be valuable to bring down, as whatever was behind this would have more of a difficulty keeping a constant snowstorm in place. These Ice Pokemon weren't keen on making things easy, however, as their Icy Wind attack would reduce everyone's Speed from the start in addition to the two Vanilluxe Hardening their bodies before joining the multiple Ice Beams flying around with Avalanches that would threaten to bury the entire group in snow. As Athena sent out her Clefable to attack one of the Vanillish with a Wake-Up Slap, Hyrem could hear a growling sound from beside him as Happy stepped in front of Kenna, his fangs bared at the family of Vanillite, and he knew his Flareon was itching to show just how much he wanted to protect his mate and kids. "Okay, Happy, you want to battle so much, you're on then!" said Hyrem before Happy readied himself, looking once again at his new family, then at Silas and Kenna. "Don't worry about them, we'll keep watch, you just get yourself into battle!" encouraged Silas. "Yeah, we got yer back, now go put those dessert thingamabobs in their place!" added Kenna.

"Mmm!" Happy nodded with a smile before winking at the twins. "Kids, you just sit back and watch your daddy work!" At that moment, he gave a "Fwaa!" to Hyrem, signalling he was ready to get in there. "Okay Happy, let's synch up and battle! Go help Athena and Clefable Take Down that Vanillish, then use Rock Smash before putting that new Flamethrower of yours to good use!" *Yeah, let's do this!* Hyrem suddenly heard a new voice inside his head, and he had experienced enough moments like it to know what that meant. You got this, Happy! he thought, figuring the Vanilluxe would be more difficult to bring down, but the Vanillish might be more his level, and if they focused on the Vanillish first they could then have less to worry about when engaging the Vanilluxe.

Stantler, the Big Horn Pokemon. Stantler's horns were desired as trophies due to the hypnotic effects they had on people who stared at them for too long. This Pokemon was then poached until they became a critically endangered species; thankfully, the Pokemon League intervened, and the population has risen to safer levels since then.

Meowth, the Scratch Cat Pokemon. Meowth is a nocturnal Pokemon that scours the alleyways and streets of big cities looking for food and whatever else catches its interest, with its vision well suited for nighttime. Its favorite object to find is coins, though any round, shiny object will draw its attention, and it often has piles of these objects hoarded in its nest to either look at or play with until it gets tired. It has retractable claws that allow it to simply walk on its paws and sneak around without alerting any humans or prey. Its main enemy is Murkrow, as they both share prey species and fight often over food or to defend their young from being killed or eaten.

Camerupt, the Eruption Pokemon, and the evolved form of Numel. Inside a Camerupt's body is molten magma, and the humps on its back are volcanoes that erupt with this internal magma whenever it gets angry. This also occurs every 10 years; scientists don't know why, but it is speculated that it results from this Pokemon having too much magma inside its body. It can tell when there is a lack of magma inside its body and will travel to the nearest volcano to drink lava and replenish its stores.

Charmeleon, the Flame Pokemon. Charmeleon can be easily provoked into battle, especially when encountering strong opponents. It can wildly swing its tail, igniting anything the flame on the tip of its tail comes into contact with, and if particularly agitated the flame can be a bluish-white. If a Charmeleon is able to get close, it will use its powerful claws to ravage its opponent until it is dispatched.

Snorlax, the Sleeping Pokemon. Snorlax has a very sedentary lifestyle; when it is not sleeping, it is eating until almost 900 lbs. of food is inside it. Anything that can fit inside its wide mouth is fair game, even if it would normally be poisonous or rotten, as its stomach can digest anything safely. This sometimes includes any potential bystanders should they get too close and are grabbed by a Snorlax's paws, so it is advised to keep a good distance away from this Pokemon while it eats. Even if it looks asleep, it can sometimes still be eating while sleeping, so it is best to wait until the Pokemon is completely full before approaching. Once it is full, however, it immediately goes into a deep sleep;it is therefore completely safe to interact with at that point, although it is extremely heavy and very difficult to move if it is blocking a pathway. Sometimes children can be seen playing and bouncing on a sleeping Snorlax's belly.

Starmie, the Mysterious Pokemon. What looks like a gem at the center of its body is actually the Pokemon's core. Able to glow seven different colors, it is highly prized by collectors and is protected by law against poaching. When the core does glow, people speculate it to be communicating, and it is suspected these Pokemon come from outside this planet due to the design of their bodies and their psychic powers that have caused headaches to attackers. Starmie can swim through water by spinning half of its body to propel its way forward.

Mamoswine, the Twin Tusk Pokemon, and the final evolved form of Swinub. Mamoswine were much more common during the Ice Age, although it has not gone extinct due to being able to live high up in the mountains where it is still extremely cold. One Mamoswine was frozen in ice for 10,000 years until it was dug up and released by archaeologists, and this individual is still alive today. This Pokemon's tusks are actually ice grown off its body; the older the Pokemon, the larger its icy tusks are.

Incineroar, the Heel Pokemon. This Pokemon has been known to disobey even more experienced trainers if it is not in a good mood to do so. It fights dirty, using kicks and punches before expelling fire from its navel in order to end the fight.

Cyndaquil, the Fire Mouse Pokemon. Cyndaquil is a shy Pokemon by nature, and it will curl itself up into a ball, ready to defend itself by shooting flames out of its back if needed. When it is exhausted, however, the flames are not ignited as well as they could be, revealing itself to be more vulnerable to attack.

Vaporeon, the Bubble Jet Pokemon, and the evolved form of Eevee. A semi-aquatic Pokemon with a tail that resembles a mermaid's, it has the power to change its body to become invisible in water. It can breathe underwater, and it uses its invisibility to evade detection from predator and prey alike, staying invisible while it hunts for fish Pokemon to eat. It can tell rain is about to fall whenever its fins vibrate.

There was a large gathering in the town square of Galea Town. As Athena counted heads, she was moved by the number of trainers who had answered her call and travelled to the Cloud Garden to help out. Clearing her throat, she finally addressed the crowd. “Hi everyone, I’d like to thank you all for coming here! What we are about to face is on a scale too large for all of us who call this place home, so every bit of assistance does a world of good.” Many of the Galean citizens who are in attendance applauded, showing their appreciation for all of the visitors. “For those of you who help take down the Pokemon controlling the Starline Waterfall, please follow me for more details. If you wish to stay here and help the town, Jet here will organize things. Thank you!”

As Athena broke off from the gathering with a group of trainers, the ranger known as Jet stepped forward to address the remainder. “Like Athena said, thank you for coming to help. Every bit matters!” Standing next to Jet was Samuel the woodcutter who was accompanied by men and women from the town. They were each carrying a small bundle of parchment, which they began passing out to the trainers. Upon closer inspection, the trainers had been handed a map. “As I speak there is a large number of wild Pokemon sweeping across the region taking over the environment, eating crops, and destroying property. Our first task is to head up towards the Oran Orchard and save their farm from ravenous Pokemon. Here is a map of the Cloud Garden for your personal use.”

“We are located here, in the red area by the lake. The small green dot to the northwest of town is known as the Rose Garden while the thin green strip directly north is Oran Orchard. Time is of the essence, so in order to make sure we get there quickly, some of the residents here have assembled a couple of sleighs to take us to the Orchard. Samuel here will lead the way,” Jet concluded, motioning over to the woodsman. Samuel nodded, adding, “Thanks, Jet. Right this way, folks.”

After Jet finished speaking, Samuel guided the trainers down the street to the edge of town. Awaiting them were two large wooden carriages where the wheels had been replaced with long wooden blades to traverse the snow and ice. Before the two sleighs were a pair of Mudsdales that were tied up and ready to go. Because they were agricultural Pokemon, they weren’t ready to take on combat, but they were certainly strong enough to pull a carriage full of trainers. The Mudsdales didn’t seem too comfortable with the cold temperature, but were ready to do their job regardless. With twelve trainers remaining behind to assist the town, Jet had six board each carriage before they set off.

As the Mudsdales left town and trotted north, the towering trees of the Cloud Forest appeared on the horizon. Everything had been coated in a layer of bright white snow, and snowflakes continued to trickle down from above, forever replenishing an endless supply of white. Along the way they passed a few countryside houses, most of which had been submerged in snow and appeared abandoned for the time being. Some of the houses appeared to have their windows broken in, as if something had already ransacked the house. Small animal footprints in the snow seemed to confirm that suspicion.

Eventually the two carriages arrived at a quaint farm known as the Oran Orchard where they found rows and rows of berry trees ruined by the cold temperature. Several of them had even been snapped in two, as if there was a violent struggle. Accompanying the destruction was a chorus of grunts and yells coming from further in the orchard. “Quick, let’s go help them out!” Samuel called out, jumping out of one of the sleighs and onto the thick snow below. With Jet and the other trainers following in pursuit, they made their way deeper into the cluster of berry trees.

Following the sounds of heated shouting and angry screeches, the group came upon a pair of men and their Pokemon. It was none other than Adam and Isaac, the father and son of the Applewood family, and their Herdier named Lady and Miltank named Bessie. Neither Pokemon was in good condition as they were surrounded by a mob of Sneasel. Bessie darted around, trying her best to Rollout through the snow, but it was tough to gain traction against the quicker opponents and the Miltank was struggling to catch her breath.

With the new group of trainers approaching, the two farmers let out a sigh of relief while the Sneasels hissed angrily. “Thank god you’ve come!” Adam exclaimed, out of breath himself. Looking around, there appeared to be more Sneasel than the eye could count, and they were moving too fast that it would have been impossible to try. "Let’s start thinning out their numbers and then we can hopefully scare off the leftovers,” Jet called out while tossing a Pokeball. A Skarmory appeared and quickly took to the air before swooping down and hitting a Sneasel with a Steel Wing. The Sneasel shrieked in pain, which seemed to echo throughout the orchard.

The rest of the Sneasels growled in unison until a loud rustling in the trees behind them got nearer and nearer. Bursting into the clearing was a Weavile, who was chowing down on a berry in its hand. “Weav…” it hissed, looking to take charge of the situation. “That must be their leader!” Isaac called out while bending over to tend to Lady. Jet nodded in agreement. “If we can take down their leader, it might make things easier for us!” As it stared down the group of trainer, Weavile let out a menacing hiss. This bandit was a tough customer, and it appeared to have no intentions of backing down from its hoard of berries.

In order to keep things organized for us to update, please use only 1 Pokemon in combat at a time and order up to no more than 3 attacks at a time. Reminder: this campaign will be updated every weekend around Saturday/Sunday, so if you are unable to reply in time do not worry. There is no penalty for missing an update; simply reply to the latest update to keep up with the plot. Please reply in Paleturquoise

Athena shivered while waiting for the groups to finish gathering and instructions to be given. A ranger of the Cloud Garden addressed the group of trainers who had decided to stay and protect the town. Suddenly, the man said her name, and Athena looked at him in shock. She soon realized he was not addressing her at all, but the cool-looking trial captain flying away on her Altaria. She smiled a bit to her self, she was glad she shared a name with a strong and competent trainer. She could be someone to look up to.

At the edge of the town were two sleds set up with Mudsdale pulling them. Athena and Eclair quickly took an open seat, Eclair climbing up onto her trainers lap. Athena winced as the Mawile's steel-cold skin pressed up against her. The ride was surprisingly pleasant, and Athena almost forgot they were in the middle of an unusually strong snowstorm. Distant yelling brought her attention back to the urgency of the situation. The burly trial captain on her sled directed the group to head into the orchard. Athena carefully jumped down from the sled and got her footing on the packed snow. She hurried along with the group, making sure Eclair did not fall behind.

They stopped once coming upon a battle in progress. A Herdier and Miltank were struggling against a large horde of Pokemon. Athena positioned herself towards the back of the group, not sure where she would be needed. The trial captain Jet sent out his Pokemon almost immediately, striking one of the Sneasel. This seemed to make the rest of the group angry, especially a menacing looking Weavile leading the group.

Other trainers had already started jumping into the battle. Athena slid her backpack off of one shoulder and dug into retrieve a Luxury Ball. Eclair, a bit disappointed she wasn't chosen to battle first, took a seat back on the sled to watch the action.
"Let's go, Choux!" Athena tossed the ball into the snow, and her Snubbull appeared in a flash of light. As soon as Choux's paws touched the snow, he yelped in surprise, then looked at his trainer as if she had just betrayed him. "Oh please, the cold isn't gonna hurt you" She rolled her eyes at her overdramatic Pokemon. Choux whined a bit more, but seemed willing to do what Athena needed in order to get back to the warmth of his Pokeball.
"Get in there and attack those Sneasel with Close Combat," Athena instructed. "Use Scary Face to make sure they don't get away, and then use Bite!" Choux padded his way into battle, giving Athena one last grumpy look.

The trial captain watched as certain trainers broke off from the larger group and headed her way. She tapped a finger against a Pokeball in her hand impatiently. A puffy winter coat had been draped over her shoulders, despite her protests of not needing it. It got colder than this on the mountain, she was fine. Jet had noticed she was shivering, though. Once the group looked it had finished forming, Athena walked around the perimeter and handed out maps. As she spoke to the group, she held up a map of her own and traced her finger along the path to the waterfall.
“Ok everyone!” She called out, loud enough to hear over the rushing wind. “We’re headed up to the waterfall. Normally we have people clear the trials down here before allowing them access, but this is an emergency. That being said, I need everyone to stay on their toes. There are several wild Pokemon riled up because of this storm, and there is no telling when or where they will attack. Don’t be afraid to ask for help if you need it, we’re a team here, understood?”
The young trial captain waited for an affirmative response from the trainers she was now in charge of. To rally them into action, she threw a fist into the air and whooped. Then, she tossed a Pokeball, calling out her Altaria. The fluffy Dragon-type trilled happily to see its trainer and allowed her to climb on to its back.

Athena and her Altaria took off, beckoning the rest of the group to follow. The Altaria flew low, sometimes circling around the group to make sure no one was falling behind. As the group climbed the trail to the waterfall, the blizzard only got stronger. Even strong Fire-types like Keith’s Camperupt and Jayson’s Rapidash were having a difficult time against the strong winds. The landscape looked completely different from what anyone who had visited the Cloud Garden had seen before. The normally flourishing Rose Garden was frozen, the hedge sculptures transformed into ice. The Plains had become a never-ending blanket of pure white. Before long, the group came upon a large red Torii gate, its color stark contrast to the rest of the environment. Athena touched town on her Altaria and ran through the gate into the Stone Shrine, slipping a bit on ice. A loud Howl echoed through the air, and a pair of Lycanroc tore through the snow in front of the Shrine. A shrine maiden and a girl with blue hair were poised for battle. The older woman directed her Poliwrath to beat an enemy Sneasel into Submission. The Water and Fighting-Type grabbed its opponent and sent it flying into a nearby rock formation. The Sneasel hissed in pain, then turned and fled.
“That’s the last of them... for now.” The trial captain Marina stated. The other trial captain, Madoka, nodded. Her two Lycanroc returned to her side and she patted them worriedly. The two girls spotted Athena and the group of trainers approaching them.
“I’m headed up to the waterfall with these trainers,” Athena informed Marina and Madoka.
“Be careful,” Madoka warned, her face looked grim. “There’s…something up there.”
“I know.” Athena turned to look at her group of trainers. “I think everyone here is ready to face whatever comes.” She gave the group a thumbs-up.

Madoka brought Athena and the group to the threshold between the Stone Shrine and the Starline Waterfall. Her and Marina would stay back at the Shrine, serving as a barrier to any powerful Pokemon that might try to attack the lowest level of the Cloud Garden. The waterfall group trudged along a short path before reaching a clearing with a few snow-covered trees. It was quiet, save for the whistling of the wind. The normally crashing waterfall was frozen solid, its cascades brought to a standstill by the power of the storm. Far above, at the top of the waterfall, was something spherical. It floated menacingly, and seemed to be watching as the group of trainers gathered around. Athena retrieved another Pokeball from her belt, calling forth her Clefable. The Fairy type endured the shock of the sudden cold, and soon looked ready for battle. The trial captain turned to her group and began giving instructions.
“Everyone here?” She attempted to do a quick headcount. “I want to recommend that-“ She was cut off by a low rumbling noise. All around the waterfall, shadowy figures began to raise into the air. As the light hit them, they sparkled and glittered like the rest of the ice around them. The Pokemon filled the air, looking over the group with faces that would probably be considered cute if there weren’t so many of them. With swirling, white tops and a crystallized body, these Pokemon were at home in this altered environment. The sphere at the top of the waterfall opened and let out a loud cry. This call was answered by the Ice-types surrounding the group. A cluster of the smallest Vanillite whipped up an Icy Wind, adding more ice and snow to the already raging storm. Other Vanillite, along with three Vanillish fired Ice Beams haphazardly at the group, hoping to scatter them. Two brave Vanilluxe, looking like the leaders of the group lowered themselves into the group of trainers, giggling as they raised their defenses with Harden and causing snow to crash down with Avalanche.
Athena and her Pokemon had already jumped into the fray. Her Clefable was going after a Vanillish with Wake-Up Slap.

Now isn’t the time for a brain freeze, get in there!

In order to keep things organized for us to update, please use only 1 Pokemon in combat at a time and order up to no more than 3 attacks at a time. Reminder: this campaign will be updated every weekend around Saturday/Sunday, so if you are unable to reply in time do not worry. There is no penalty for missing an update; simply reply to the latest update to keep up with the plot. Please reply in DeepSkyBlue

As Athena gathered the trainers who pledged their assistance towards fighting off the invading Pokemon at the Starline Waterfall, she handed everyone a map of the Cloud Garden. Being a resident of the area, Gary didn’t need a map but politely accepted it anyway. Gary and Athena had previously met a few months before, so he gave his acquaintance a quick smile and nod before she moved on. As Gary looked around at the rest of the group, he noticed a few other acquaintances and even some of his friends. Most notably there was Hyrem, Tate, and Jayson, all three of which had previously been guests at his home on the mountain.

After they made eye contact, Hyrem and his Rapidash came over to express his relief that he and his Pokemon were okay, causing a smile to form on Gary’s face. “Yeah, thanks for that. Fortunately we were away when it happened, but we came running when we heard the news. We really hope our home is okay up there…” he answered as Rena solemnly gazed towards the west where their destination lay. Before it was time to depart, Gary quickly waved at both Jayson and Tate, hoping their reunion could proceed on happier terms once this was all over.

Once all of the preparations were in order, Athena called forth her Altaria as the other trainers mounted their Pokemon and set off for the waterfall. Few words were spoken on the journey across the Galea Plains as the blistering winds drowned out most of the noise. The wind and snow made travel uncomfortable for even the fire typed Pokemon amongst the group. Even Rena trudged forward steadily, not wanting to lose her footing, as the all-terrain Stantler made her way through the snow.

Eventually the group came across a large red gate, a sign that Gary recognized as the entrance to the Stone Shrine. Almost there, he thought to himself, knowing that the waterfall was just down the trail from here. A pair of howls pierced the air as Madoka’s Lycanrocs battled against some wild Sneasels. They were joined in battle by a Poliwrath, accompanied by Gary’s friend, Marina. ”Good luck,” he mouthed to her as she quickly nodded back, engrossed in the fight at hand.

The group carried on down the trail, finally arriving at their destination. Gary was astounded to find that the massive waterfall had been frozen solid forming a pillar of ice. He squinted his eyes, trying to get the best possible view of the top of the waterfall, but he knew his home would be out of sight from way down here anyway. “Insane…” he whispered as he dismounted Rena. “Good work Rena, take a rest for now. I have a good feeling I’ll be needing you later.” Rena sighed and readily allowed herself to be recalled back into her Pokeball.

Sensing the approaching group of Pokemon trainers, a number of enemy Pokemon floated their way down from higher up the cliff side. It was an entire family of ice cream-like Pokemon, otherwise known as Vanillite, Vanillish, and Vanilluxe. Despite spending some years in the Unova region, Gary had yet to encounter these species, so he registered them in his Pokedex as a few other trainers did as well.

Gary quickly pulled out a Pokeball, ready to take on the wave of ice types. “Alright Akame, this will be your first battle here, but let’s make it count!” Gary tossed the Luxury Ball with a flick of his wrist, revealing a small Pawniard. She quietly looked around, taking in her surroundings before spotting her opponents. Her stomach let out a small growl. “Now’s not the time for food,” Gary answered with a smile, “At least not yet.” He put a foot down on the ice around them, testing his footing. “This might make things difficult for agility, so let’s start things off with a Magnet Rise. I want you to then kick up a layer of Stealth Rocks to shield you from approaching enemies and then once they make their move, do your best to get Revenge on them!” Akame quietly nodded and hit her bladed hands together, as if to sharpen them.

There was a large gathering in the town square of Galea Town. As Athena counted heads, she was moved by the number of trainers who had answered her call and travelled to the Cloud Garden to help out. Clearing her throat, she finally addressed the crowd. “Hi everyone, I’d like to thank you all for coming here! What we are about to face is on a scale too large for all of us who call this place home, so every bit of assistance does a world of good.” Many of the Galean citizens who are in attendance applauded, showing their appreciation for all of the visitors. “For those of you who help take down the Pokemon controlling the Starline Waterfall, please follow me for more details. If you wish to stay here and help the town, Jet here will organize things. Thank you!”

As Athena broke off from the gathering with a group of trainers, the ranger known as Jet stepped forward to address the remainder. “Like Athena said, thank you for coming to help. Every bit matters!” Standing next to Jet was Samuel the woodcutter who was accompanied by men and women from the town. They were each carrying a small bundle of parchment, which they began passing out to the trainers. Upon closer inspection, the trainers had been handed a map. “As I speak there is a large number of wild Pokemon sweeping across the region taking over the environment, eating crops, and destroying property. Our first task is to head up towards the Oran Orchard and save their farm from ravenous Pokemon. Here is a map of the Cloud Garden for your personal use.”

“We are located here, in the red area by the lake. The small green dot to the northwest of town is known as the Rose Garden while the thin green strip directly north is Oran Orchard. Time is of the essence, so in order to make sure we get there quickly, some of the residents here have assembled a couple of sleighs to take us to the Orchard. Samuel here will lead the way,” Jet concluded, motioning over to the woodsman. Samuel nodded, adding, “Thanks, Jet. Right this way, folks.”

After Jet finished speaking, Samuel guided the trainers down the street to the edge of town. Awaiting them were two large wooden carriages where the wheels had been replaced with long wooden blades to traverse the snow and ice. Before the two sleighs were a pair of Mudsdales that were tied up and ready to go. Because they were agricultural Pokemon, they weren’t ready to take on combat, but they were certainly strong enough to pull a carriage full of trainers. The Mudsdales didn’t seem too comfortable with the cold temperature, but were ready to do their job regardless. With twelve trainers remaining behind to assist the town, Jet had six board each carriage before they set off.

As the Mudsdales left town and trotted north, the towering trees of the Cloud Forest appeared on the horizon. Everything had been coated in a layer of bright white snow, and snowflakes continued to trickle down from above, forever replenishing an endless supply of white. Along the way they passed a few countryside houses, most of which had been submerged in snow and appeared abandoned for the time being. Some of the houses appeared to have their windows broken in, as if something had already ransacked the house. Small animal footprints in the snow seemed to confirm that suspicion.

Eventually the two carriages arrived at a quaint farm known as the Oran Orchard where they found rows and rows of berry trees ruined by the cold temperature. Several of them had even been snapped in two, as if there was a violent struggle. Accompanying the destruction was a chorus of grunts and yells coming from further in the orchard. “Quick, let’s go help them out!” Samuel called out, jumping out of one of the sleighs and onto the thick snow below. With Jet and the other trainers following in pursuit, they made their way deeper into the cluster of berry trees.

Following the sounds of heated shouting and angry screeches, the group came upon a pair of men and their Pokemon. It was none other than Adam and Isaac, the father and son of the Applewood family, and their Herdier named Lady and Miltank named Bessie. Neither Pokemon was in good condition as they were surrounded by a mob of Sneasel. Bessie darted around, trying her best to Rollout through the snow, but it was tough to gain traction against the quicker opponents and the Miltank was struggling to catch her breath.

With the new group of trainers approaching, the two farmers let out a sigh of relief while the Sneasels hissed angrily. “Thank god you’ve come!” Adam exclaimed, out of breath himself. Looking around, there appeared to be more Sneasel than the eye could count, and they were moving too fast that it would have been impossible to try. "Let’s start thinning out their numbers and then we can hopefully scare off the leftovers,” Jet called out while tossing a Pokeball. A Skarmory appeared and quickly took to the air before swooping down and hitting a Sneasel with a Steel Wing. The Sneasel shrieked in pain, which seemed to echo throughout the orchard.

The rest of the Sneasels growled in unison until a loud rustling in the trees behind them got nearer and nearer. Bursting into the clearing was a Weavile, who was chowing down on a berry in its hand. “Weav…” it hissed, looking to take charge of the situation. “That must be their leader!” Isaac called out while bending over to tend to Lady. Jet nodded in agreement. “If we can take down their leader, it might make things easier for us!” As it stared down the group of trainer, Weavile let out a menacing hiss. This bandit was a tough customer, and it appeared to have no intentions of backing down from its hoard of berries.

In order to keep things organized for us to update, please use only 1 Pokemon in combat at a time and order up to no more than 3 attacks at a time. Reminder: this campaign will be updated every weekend around Saturday/Sunday, so if you are unable to reply in time do not worry. There is no penalty for missing an update; simply reply to the latest update to keep up with the plot. Please reply in Paleturquoise

Mélina squee as Samuel led them to the Mudsdale-pulled sleds. The Kalosian couldn't help exclaiming aloud “C’est comme ŕ la cabane ŕ sucre!”* Although she was very understanding with the situation, she was a little disappointed that she couldn't bring out all her Pokémon for the ride; so she settled by calling back in their respective Pokéballs all but the excitable Lune who, to the Eevee’s joy, sat on her trainer's lap along for the trip to the orchard.

Arrived at the garden of berry trees, the predicament was as clear as can be: it was ravaged down by a clan of Sneasel led by a Weavile. Fallen tree trunks down into pieces, half-eaten berries scattered all over the snow… it wasn't a pretty sight, especially as the place felt being lovingly taken care of. Mélina grumbled under her breath that such hard work didn't deserve to be attacked like this… but was glad to join up and help at least stop the raid.

As she took her place within the whole group of helpers and watched as many yelled our their orders, she now realized this was her first time participating in a battle side to side with other trainers. “Well, there's a first to everything,” she first thought, but then wondered why most were more working solo instead of working as a team. After listening in on a few more battle strategies, she hypothesized that since both the Sneasel and the helpers were such a large group, it would be more simple and efficient to concentrate on one-on-one battling. Even then, Mélina figured a way she could help out everyone, or at least help someone who can…

“Ok! Let's move Lune!”

“'Vee!” the fluffy Pokémon barked in acknowledgement.

”Lock oooooooon…” the trainer hesitated, looking for a Sneasel that seem not involved in a fight yet. She found one, then pointed at it. “thaaaat one, and Attack it with a slap of… Sand? Snow? Whatever works, just try and blind it! Then go for a Swift attack! Finally…” the woman’s gaze and pointer finger shifted towards the Lunatone who, by its trainer's strategy, was trying to hold a Trick Room on the battlefield, “give a Helping Hand to this fella, would you? Helping it hold that room up will help everyone!”

The trial captain watched as certain trainers broke off from the larger group and headed her way. She tapped a finger against a Pokeball in her hand impatiently. A puffy winter coat had been draped over her shoulders, despite her protests of not needing it. It got colder than this on the mountain, she was fine. Jet had noticed she was shivering, though. Once the group looked it had finished forming, Athena walked around the perimeter and handed out maps. As she spoke to the group, she held up a map of her own and traced her finger along the path to the waterfall.
“Ok everyone!” She called out, loud enough to hear over the rushing wind. “We’re headed up to the waterfall. Normally we have people clear the trials down here before allowing them access, but this is an emergency. That being said, I need everyone to stay on their toes. There are several wild Pokemon riled up because of this storm, and there is no telling when or where they will attack. Don’t be afraid to ask for help if you need it, we’re a team here, understood?”
The young trial captain waited for an affirmative response from the trainers she was now in charge of. To rally them into action, she threw a fist into the air and whooped. Then, she tossed a Pokeball, calling out her Altaria. The fluffy Dragon-type trilled happily to see its trainer and allowed her to climb on to its back.

Athena and her Altaria took off, beckoning the rest of the group to follow. The Altaria flew low, sometimes circling around the group to make sure no one was falling behind. As the group climbed the trail to the waterfall, the blizzard only got stronger. Even strong Fire-types like Keith’s Camperupt and Jayson’s Rapidash were having a difficult time against the strong winds. The landscape looked completely different from what anyone who had visited the Cloud Garden had seen before. The normally flourishing Rose Garden was frozen, the hedge sculptures transformed into ice. The Plains had become a never-ending blanket of pure white. Before long, the group came upon a large red Torii gate, its color stark contrast to the rest of the environment. Athena touched town on her Altaria and ran through the gate into the Stone Shrine, slipping a bit on ice. A loud Howl echoed through the air, and a pair of Lycanroc tore through the snow in front of the Shrine. A shrine maiden and a girl with blue hair were poised for battle. The older woman directed her Poliwrath to beat an enemy Sneasel into Submission. The Water and Fighting-Type grabbed its opponent and sent it flying into a nearby rock formation. The Sneasel hissed in pain, then turned and fled.
“That’s the last of them... for now.” The trial captain Marina stated. The other trial captain, Madoka, nodded. Her two Lycanroc returned to her side and she patted them worriedly. The two girls spotted Athena and the group of trainers approaching them.
“I’m headed up to the waterfall with these trainers,” Athena informed Marina and Madoka.
“Be careful,” Madoka warned, her face looked grim. “There’s…something up there.”
“I know.” Athena turned to look at her group of trainers. “I think everyone here is ready to face whatever comes.” She gave the group a thumbs-up.

Madoka brought Athena and the group to the threshold between the Stone Shrine and the Starline Waterfall. Her and Marina would stay back at the Shrine, serving as a barrier to any powerful Pokemon that might try to attack the lowest level of the Cloud Garden. The waterfall group trudged along a short path before reaching a clearing with a few snow-covered trees. It was quiet, save for the whistling of the wind. The normally crashing waterfall was frozen solid, its cascades brought to a standstill by the power of the storm. Far above, at the top of the waterfall, was something spherical. It floated menacingly, and seemed to be watching as the group of trainers gathered around. Athena retrieved another Pokeball from her belt, calling forth her Clefable. The Fairy type endured the shock of the sudden cold, and soon looked ready for battle. The trial captain turned to her group and began giving instructions.
“Everyone here?” She attempted to do a quick headcount. “I want to recommend that-“ She was cut off by a low rumbling noise. All around the waterfall, shadowy figures began to raise into the air. As the light hit them, they sparkled and glittered like the rest of the ice around them. The Pokemon filled the air, looking over the group with faces that would probably be considered cute if there weren’t so many of them. With swirling, white tops and a crystallized body, these Pokemon were at home in this altered environment. The sphere at the top of the waterfall opened and let out a loud cry. This call was answered by the Ice-types surrounding the group. A cluster of the smallest Vanillite whipped up an Icy Wind, adding more ice and snow to the already raging storm. Other Vanillite, along with three Vanillish fired Ice Beams haphazardly at the group, hoping to scatter them. Two brave Vanilluxe, looking like the leaders of the group lowered themselves into the group of trainers, giggling as they raised their defenses with Harden and causing snow to crash down with Avalanche.
Athena and her Pokemon had already jumped into the fray. Her Clefable was going after a Vanillish with Wake-Up Slap.

Now isn’t the time for a brain freeze, get in there!

In order to keep things organized for us to update, please use only 1 Pokemon in combat at a time and order up to no more than 3 attacks at a time. Reminder: this campaign will be updated every weekend around Saturday/Sunday, so if you are unable to reply in time do not worry. There is no penalty for missing an update; simply reply to the latest update to keep up with the plot. Please reply in DeepSkyBlue

Melissa glanced around at the group of trainers she'd be fighting alongside, recognizing most of them as people she knew in passing but hadn't really spoken to. She took the map the trial captain handed out, following along the path she pointed out as she explained the situation. As the trial captain wrapped up her speech, Melissa nodded and then eyed the Altaria she sent out appreciatively. Cirrus might one day look like that, but until then...

She trudged along with the group as they made their way to the Stone Shrine. Everything they passed was either iced over or buried under snow, at least, as much as she could see as they passed by, and she frowned at the sight. That couldn't be good for the plants. Something red emerged from the wind and snow and the trial captain guiding them landed, running through the gate. A Howl echoed through the air and a pair of Lycanroc tore through the snow, tossing it everywhere as a Poliwrath threw a Sneasel into a rock.

Melissa shivered as the three women talked, making a note to search out her own Rockruff some time soon and following as they led the group to a path heading towards the waterfall. They reached a clearing where they could see the waterfall itself and whatever it was that was floating menacingly at the top. The trial captain called out a Clefable and turned to say something, but a rumbling noise cut her off. A bunch of...ice cream cones? rose into the air around them and, as the sphere at the top of the waterfall gave one loud cry, they attacked.

The smallest ones kicked up an Icy Wind, making the blizzard worse, while the others shot Ice Beams at the group. Melissa ducked and squinted through the wind as the two-coned ones dumped snow on them. A pink smudge that she figured was probably the Clefable was doing something to the small ice cream cups and something bright pink from Keith's direction was going for one of the single cones. Another pink something of Alice's was close to the ground and it sounded like it would be going after...one of the two-coned ones? Melissa made a frustrated noise and pulled out her Pokédex, hoping it wouldn't crap out on her from the cold.

"Wildfire, use Foresight to pick a direction away from everyone and hit that section with Swift and a Heat Wave."

Her starter nodded with a "Quil!" and scrambled out of her jacket, making her shiver violently as her living heater went to go do his job. Zipping her jacket up, she pointed her Pokédex at their opponents.

"Vanillite, Vanillish, and Vanilluxe?" Melissa said to herself. "Pure Ice-types, so Fire, Fighting, and Rock, I believe." She tucked her Pokédex away and squinted in the direction Wildfire had disappeared in. Depending on how this went, she might need to pull out Mar...

There was a large gathering in the town square of Galea Town. As Athena counted heads, she was moved by the number of trainers who had answered her call and travelled to the Cloud Garden to help out. Clearing her throat, she finally addressed the crowd. “Hi everyone, I’d like to thank you all for coming here! What we are about to face is on a scale too large for all of us who call this place home, so every bit of assistance does a world of good.” Many of the Galean citizens who are in attendance applauded, showing their appreciation for all of the visitors. “For those of you who help take down the Pokemon controlling the Starline Waterfall, please follow me for more details. If you wish to stay here and help the town, Jet here will organize things. Thank you!”

As Athena broke off from the gathering with a group of trainers, the ranger known as Jet stepped forward to address the remainder. “Like Athena said, thank you for coming to help. Every bit matters!” Standing next to Jet was Samuel the woodcutter who was accompanied by men and women from the town. They were each carrying a small bundle of parchment, which they began passing out to the trainers. Upon closer inspection, the trainers had been handed a map. “As I speak there is a large number of wild Pokemon sweeping across the region taking over the environment, eating crops, and destroying property. Our first task is to head up towards the Oran Orchard and save their farm from ravenous Pokemon. Here is a map of the Cloud Garden for your personal use.”

“We are located here, in the red area by the lake. The small green dot to the northwest of town is known as the Rose Garden while the thin green strip directly north is Oran Orchard. Time is of the essence, so in order to make sure we get there quickly, some of the residents here have assembled a couple of sleighs to take us to the Orchard. Samuel here will lead the way,” Jet concluded, motioning over to the woodsman. Samuel nodded, adding, “Thanks, Jet. Right this way, folks.”

After Jet finished speaking, Samuel guided the trainers down the street to the edge of town. Awaiting them were two large wooden carriages where the wheels had been replaced with long wooden blades to traverse the snow and ice. Before the two sleighs were a pair of Mudsdales that were tied up and ready to go. Because they were agricultural Pokemon, they weren’t ready to take on combat, but they were certainly strong enough to pull a carriage full of trainers. The Mudsdales didn’t seem too comfortable with the cold temperature, but were ready to do their job regardless. With twelve trainers remaining behind to assist the town, Jet had six board each carriage before they set off.

As the Mudsdales left town and trotted north, the towering trees of the Cloud Forest appeared on the horizon. Everything had been coated in a layer of bright white snow, and snowflakes continued to trickle down from above, forever replenishing an endless supply of white. Along the way they passed a few countryside houses, most of which had been submerged in snow and appeared abandoned for the time being. Some of the houses appeared to have their windows broken in, as if something had already ransacked the house. Small animal footprints in the snow seemed to confirm that suspicion.

Eventually the two carriages arrived at a quaint farm known as the Oran Orchard where they found rows and rows of berry trees ruined by the cold temperature. Several of them had even been snapped in two, as if there was a violent struggle. Accompanying the destruction was a chorus of grunts and yells coming from further in the orchard. “Quick, let’s go help them out!” Samuel called out, jumping out of one of the sleighs and onto the thick snow below. With Jet and the other trainers following in pursuit, they made their way deeper into the cluster of berry trees.

Following the sounds of heated shouting and angry screeches, the group came upon a pair of men and their Pokemon. It was none other than Adam and Isaac, the father and son of the Applewood family, and their Herdier named Lady and Miltank named Bessie. Neither Pokemon was in good condition as they were surrounded by a mob of Sneasel. Bessie darted around, trying her best to Rollout through the snow, but it was tough to gain traction against the quicker opponents and the Miltank was struggling to catch her breath.

With the new group of trainers approaching, the two farmers let out a sigh of relief while the Sneasels hissed angrily. “Thank god you’ve come!” Adam exclaimed, out of breath himself. Looking around, there appeared to be more Sneasel than the eye could count, and they were moving too fast that it would have been impossible to try. "Let’s start thinning out their numbers and then we can hopefully scare off the leftovers,” Jet called out while tossing a Pokeball. A Skarmory appeared and quickly took to the air before swooping down and hitting a Sneasel with a Steel Wing. The Sneasel shrieked in pain, which seemed to echo throughout the orchard.

The rest of the Sneasels growled in unison until a loud rustling in the trees behind them got nearer and nearer. Bursting into the clearing was a Weavile, who was chowing down on a berry in its hand. “Weav…” it hissed, looking to take charge of the situation. “That must be their leader!” Isaac called out while bending over to tend to Lady. Jet nodded in agreement. “If we can take down their leader, it might make things easier for us!” As it stared down the group of trainer, Weavile let out a menacing hiss. This bandit was a tough customer, and it appeared to have no intentions of backing down from its hoard of berries.

In order to keep things organized for us to update, please use only 1 Pokemon in combat at a time and order up to no more than 3 attacks at a time. Reminder: this campaign will be updated every weekend around Saturday/Sunday, so if you are unable to reply in time do not worry. There is no penalty for missing an update; simply reply to the latest update to keep up with the plot. Please reply in Paleturquoise

Big breathes into his hands to keep them warm as he patiently sits on the Mudsdale drawn carriage. He is dressed in a much bigger coat than when he first arrived at the Pokemon center, almost too big and bulky. Ready to traverse the ice planet Hoth, he surveys the other defenders of the town in the carriage with him. Many of them look more experienced and have several Pokeballs at their waists which is partly intimidating and also somewhat reassuring given what they are going into. He also makes note of the other trainers closer to his skill level which also fills him somewhat with reassurance. He pats his coat pocket where the Pokeball containing Hotstuff is to build his confidence even more and though there is no actual heat coming through the Pokeball the cold feels a little less harsh.

They roll up on the Oran Orchard and Big tenses up at the sight of the torn up farm and quickly follows Samuel, Jet and the other trainers. "Sneasels." He mutters aloud, "Could be fun someday but not what we are looking for." He says and releases Hotstuff as his eyes lock on to the leader Weavile. "Ok Hotstuff, like he said if we can take out the leader the rest of them will be easier to deal with." "Good!" The Charmander replies smoke leaking from his mouth. "I'm dying to sink my claws into something." He strikes a menacing pose. "Good, let's make use of the chaos and go for a Focus Punch on the Weavile." Big commands. "I don't think he'll fall for more than one of those so follow up with two Flamethrowers and try to maintain some distance." Hotstuff nods without question and heads off to battle.

There was a large gathering in the town square of Galea Town. As Athena counted heads, she was moved by the number of trainers who had answered her call and travelled to the Cloud Garden to help out. Clearing her throat, she finally addressed the crowd. “Hi everyone, I’d like to thank you all for coming here! What we are about to face is on a scale too large for all of us who call this place home, so every bit of assistance does a world of good.” Many of the Galean citizens who are in attendance applauded, showing their appreciation for all of the visitors. “For those of you who help take down the Pokemon controlling the Starline Waterfall, please follow me for more details. If you wish to stay here and help the town, Jet here will organize things. Thank you!”

As Athena broke off from the gathering with a group of trainers, the ranger known as Jet stepped forward to address the remainder. “Like Athena said, thank you for coming to help. Every bit matters!” Standing next to Jet was Samuel the woodcutter who was accompanied by men and women from the town. They were each carrying a small bundle of parchment, which they began passing out to the trainers. Upon closer inspection, the trainers had been handed a map. “As I speak there is a large number of wild Pokemon sweeping across the region taking over the environment, eating crops, and destroying property. Our first task is to head up towards the Oran Orchard and save their farm from ravenous Pokemon. Here is a map of the Cloud Garden for your personal use.”

“We are located here, in the red area by the lake. The small green dot to the northwest of town is known as the Rose Garden while the thin green strip directly north is Oran Orchard. Time is of the essence, so in order to make sure we get there quickly, some of the residents here have assembled a couple of sleighs to take us to the Orchard. Samuel here will lead the way,” Jet concluded, motioning over to the woodsman. Samuel nodded, adding, “Thanks, Jet. Right this way, folks.”

After Jet finished speaking, Samuel guided the trainers down the street to the edge of town. Awaiting them were two large wooden carriages where the wheels had been replaced with long wooden blades to traverse the snow and ice. Before the two sleighs were a pair of Mudsdales that were tied up and ready to go. Because they were agricultural Pokemon, they weren’t ready to take on combat, but they were certainly strong enough to pull a carriage full of trainers. The Mudsdales didn’t seem too comfortable with the cold temperature, but were ready to do their job regardless. With twelve trainers remaining behind to assist the town, Jet had six board each carriage before they set off.

As the Mudsdales left town and trotted north, the towering trees of the Cloud Forest appeared on the horizon. Everything had been coated in a layer of bright white snow, and snowflakes continued to trickle down from above, forever replenishing an endless supply of white. Along the way they passed a few countryside houses, most of which had been submerged in snow and appeared abandoned for the time being. Some of the houses appeared to have their windows broken in, as if something had already ransacked the house. Small animal footprints in the snow seemed to confirm that suspicion.

Eventually the two carriages arrived at a quaint farm known as the Oran Orchard where they found rows and rows of berry trees ruined by the cold temperature. Several of them had even been snapped in two, as if there was a violent struggle. Accompanying the destruction was a chorus of grunts and yells coming from further in the orchard. “Quick, let’s go help them out!” Samuel called out, jumping out of one of the sleighs and onto the thick snow below. With Jet and the other trainers following in pursuit, they made their way deeper into the cluster of berry trees.

Following the sounds of heated shouting and angry screeches, the group came upon a pair of men and their Pokemon. It was none other than Adam and Isaac, the father and son of the Applewood family, and their Herdier named Lady and Miltank named Bessie. Neither Pokemon was in good condition as they were surrounded by a mob of Sneasel. Bessie darted around, trying her best to Rollout through the snow, but it was tough to gain traction against the quicker opponents and the Miltank was struggling to catch her breath.

With the new group of trainers approaching, the two farmers let out a sigh of relief while the Sneasels hissed angrily. “Thank god you’ve come!” Adam exclaimed, out of breath himself. Looking around, there appeared to be more Sneasel than the eye could count, and they were moving too fast that it would have been impossible to try. "Let’s start thinning out their numbers and then we can hopefully scare off the leftovers,” Jet called out while tossing a Pokeball. A Skarmory appeared and quickly took to the air before swooping down and hitting a Sneasel with a Steel Wing. The Sneasel shrieked in pain, which seemed to echo throughout the orchard.

The rest of the Sneasels growled in unison until a loud rustling in the trees behind them got nearer and nearer. Bursting into the clearing was a Weavile, who was chowing down on a berry in its hand. “Weav…” it hissed, looking to take charge of the situation. “That must be their leader!” Isaac called out while bending over to tend to Lady. Jet nodded in agreement. “If we can take down their leader, it might make things easier for us!” As it stared down the group of trainer, Weavile let out a menacing hiss. This bandit was a tough customer, and it appeared to have no intentions of backing down from its hoard of berries.

In order to keep things organized for us to update, please use only 1 Pokemon in combat at a time and order up to no more than 3 attacks at a time. Reminder: this campaign will be updated every weekend around Saturday/Sunday, so if you are unable to reply in time do not worry. There is no penalty for missing an update; simply reply to the latest update to keep up with the plot. Please reply in Paleturquoise

Jess arrived back at the Galean Town Square in time to see a number of other trainers gathering to volunteer their services. She quickly joined the ranks assigned to protect the town, following ranger Jet and the woodcutter to the outskirts, where their group was loaded on to two carriages drawn by a pair of sturdy-looking Mudsdale. Preferring to stick to her own steed, she shadowed the somber procession, which at first glance might've resembled a holiday postcard greeting of a jolly sleigh ride through a winter wonderland. ...There were no jingle bells or laughter to be heard though, and while the quaint countryside dwellings they passed appeared like frosted gingerbread houses - there was no warmth or invitation to them, as evidenced by broken windows and imprints of intruders, leaving only empty destruction in their wake.

As they neared the farmland, Jess saw to her dismay that the berry orchard looked bleak and beaten. Once lush with ripe, fragrant fruit - now rows of withering trees sighed and sagged under the weight of white, with weakened limbs stripped of life and leaves, supporting icicles instead of edibles. Several seemed snapped from some even greater force, half-split trunks marked with scars from battle. Indeed, the sounds of scuffle could be heard coming between the barren branches of their remaining brethren, still barely struggling to survive by the roots.

The party promptly pursued the noise, and came upon a scene of the father farmer and his son desperately trying to fend off a gang of Sneasel from overtaking their grove. Unfortunately their Pokémon seemed to be having a hard time of it, and were clearly growing weary from the fight. To top it all off, upon their guide sending in a Skarmory to help the situation, the resultant victim's shriek ended up summoning the leader of the pack: a gloating, gluttonous Weavile who hissed in preparation to determinedly defend its hoard.

Jess could sense both Link and Epona weren't quite keen on the circumstances, as the former snarled back in mistrust and the latter pawed the snow nervously. Jessica frowned, wondering why of all opponents they had to run into this particular species. Maybe if Midna had come along they could attempt negotiations, but as it was she wasn't sure it was such a good idea to let either of these two handle this.

"Maybe you guys should sit this one out," she murmured apologetically as she slid off and recalled both into their Balls. As for the other... Jess noted Sheik had somehow managed to disappear at some point during their journey. She shrugged, not too concerned as the Houndour was wont to such vanishing acts, and would surely turn up again later. Rather, watching Adam's Miltank had given her an idea. While these agricultural creatures might not be well suited to clashing in such a cold environment, she knew someone who could probably get around much easier on the ice...

"Go, Leo!"

In a flash of light, the bouncing blue ball burst forth with a ferocious roar, ready to participate in his first display of dominance as king of the (ice) jungle. While Kim and Zoom were equally adept at traversing such harsh elements, Jess had some doubts about the latter's confidence in combat, especially considering her newly hatched status. And given how greedy these thieves seemed to be, perhaps it might be best not to tempt them with more "food-like" entities... Besides, Leo had been looking forward to proving himself for a long time, as he puffed up his chest proudly like the regal lion he was.

"All right, let's show that Weavile who's boss by giving them your best GROWL! Then, use DEFENSE CURL, and ROLLOUT! Knock over as many of those pesky pests as you can!"

There was a large gathering in the town square of Galea Town. As Athena counted heads, she was moved by the number of trainers who had answered her call and travelled to the Cloud Garden to help out. Clearing her throat, she finally addressed the crowd. “Hi everyone, I’d like to thank you all for coming here! What we are about to face is on a scale too large for all of us who call this place home, so every bit of assistance does a world of good.” Many of the Galean citizens who are in attendance applauded, showing their appreciation for all of the visitors. “For those of you who help take down the Pokemon controlling the Starline Waterfall, please follow me for more details. If you wish to stay here and help the town, Jet here will organize things. Thank you!”

As Athena broke off from the gathering with a group of trainers, the ranger known as Jet stepped forward to address the remainder. “Like Athena said, thank you for coming to help. Every bit matters!” Standing next to Jet was Samuel the woodcutter who was accompanied by men and women from the town. They were each carrying a small bundle of parchment, which they began passing out to the trainers. Upon closer inspection, the trainers had been handed a map. “As I speak there is a large number of wild Pokemon sweeping across the region taking over the environment, eating crops, and destroying property. Our first task is to head up towards the Oran Orchard and save their farm from ravenous Pokemon. Here is a map of the Cloud Garden for your personal use.”

“We are located here, in the red area by the lake. The small green dot to the northwest of town is known as the Rose Garden while the thin green strip directly north is Oran Orchard. Time is of the essence, so in order to make sure we get there quickly, some of the residents here have assembled a couple of sleighs to take us to the Orchard. Samuel here will lead the way,” Jet concluded, motioning over to the woodsman. Samuel nodded, adding, “Thanks, Jet. Right this way, folks.”

After Jet finished speaking, Samuel guided the trainers down the street to the edge of town. Awaiting them were two large wooden carriages where the wheels had been replaced with long wooden blades to traverse the snow and ice. Before the two sleighs were a pair of Mudsdales that were tied up and ready to go. Because they were agricultural Pokemon, they weren’t ready to take on combat, but they were certainly strong enough to pull a carriage full of trainers. The Mudsdales didn’t seem too comfortable with the cold temperature, but were ready to do their job regardless. With twelve trainers remaining behind to assist the town, Jet had six board each carriage before they set off.

As the Mudsdales left town and trotted north, the towering trees of the Cloud Forest appeared on the horizon. Everything had been coated in a layer of bright white snow, and snowflakes continued to trickle down from above, forever replenishing an endless supply of white. Along the way they passed a few countryside houses, most of which had been submerged in snow and appeared abandoned for the time being. Some of the houses appeared to have their windows broken in, as if something had already ransacked the house. Small animal footprints in the snow seemed to confirm that suspicion.

Eventually the two carriages arrived at a quaint farm known as the Oran Orchard where they found rows and rows of berry trees ruined by the cold temperature. Several of them had even been snapped in two, as if there was a violent struggle. Accompanying the destruction was a chorus of grunts and yells coming from further in the orchard. “Quick, let’s go help them out!” Samuel called out, jumping out of one of the sleighs and onto the thick snow below. With Jet and the other trainers following in pursuit, they made their way deeper into the cluster of berry trees.

Following the sounds of heated shouting and angry screeches, the group came upon a pair of men and their Pokemon. It was none other than Adam and Isaac, the father and son of the Applewood family, and their Herdier named Lady and Miltank named Bessie. Neither Pokemon was in good condition as they were surrounded by a mob of Sneasel. Bessie darted around, trying her best to Rollout through the snow, but it was tough to gain traction against the quicker opponents and the Miltank was struggling to catch her breath.

With the new group of trainers approaching, the two farmers let out a sigh of relief while the Sneasels hissed angrily. “Thank god you’ve come!” Adam exclaimed, out of breath himself. Looking around, there appeared to be more Sneasel than the eye could count, and they were moving too fast that it would have been impossible to try. "Let’s start thinning out their numbers and then we can hopefully scare off the leftovers,” Jet called out while tossing a Pokeball. A Skarmory appeared and quickly took to the air before swooping down and hitting a Sneasel with a Steel Wing. The Sneasel shrieked in pain, which seemed to echo throughout the orchard.

The rest of the Sneasels growled in unison until a loud rustling in the trees behind them got nearer and nearer. Bursting into the clearing was a Weavile, who was chowing down on a berry in its hand. “Weav…” it hissed, looking to take charge of the situation. “That must be their leader!” Isaac called out while bending over to tend to Lady. Jet nodded in agreement. “If we can take down their leader, it might make things easier for us!” As it stared down the group of trainer, Weavile let out a menacing hiss. This bandit was a tough customer, and it appeared to have no intentions of backing down from its hoard of berries.

In order to keep things organized for us to update, please use only 1 Pokemon in combat at a time and order up to no more than 3 attacks at a time. Reminder: this campaign will be updated every weekend around Saturday/Sunday, so if you are unable to reply in time do not worry. There is no penalty for missing an update; simply reply to the latest update to keep up with the plot. Please reply in Paleturquoise

The trek through the snow is unpleasant, but uneventful, despite Khione’s fears. Arriving in town, Eskil joins up with several other trainers in time to see a group break off to retake the waterfall. He listens to the ranger, Jet, explain what the remaining trainers will be doing, pockets the provided map after a brief glance, and follows the group to the carriages. (No turning back now.)

Khione scales his side to perch precariously on his shoulder, ignoring Nyx’s glare as her claws settle far too close to the Purrloin’s head, as they board the carriages. (The heavy coat blunts the Sneasel’s sharp claws a bit, but Eskil still winces at the sensation. A dull knife still hurts when it is digging into your side. Still, he ignores it the best he can. Yelling about it in a group of unknown trainers on the way to defend against an icy horde seems silly.) Belial sits pressed against his legs in the carriage, and Eskil is thankful for the warmth radiating from the Houndoom’s body.

The ride is short, passing buried and damaged homes before they arrive at the Orchard. (Nyx and Khione survey the damage quietly. He is disinclined to break their heavy silence) It is easy enough to follow the sounds of battle, and the trainers quickly arrive on the scene.

Jet immediately enters the fray, and his attack causes the leader, a Weavile, to reveal itself. As other trainers join the battle, attacking either the Weavile or some of the gathered Sneasel, Eskil hangs back a moment.

He grabs a Pokeball from his belt, and aims it at the Sneasel on his shoulder.

“Best for you to sit this one out, I think. Too likely that someone will think you’re with our opponents and attack you.” Khione looks relieved to not have to fight before she vanishes back into the Pokeball.

That done, he glances down at Belial. “ You’re up.”

The Houndoom sighs theatrically. “Alright, but you owe me. What’s the strategy?”

Eskil looks out at the chaos. A few trainers going after the boss Weavile, several other trainers picking fights with various Sneasel, and one trainer working on Trick Room to slow down their opponents.

“Too many go after the Weavile, and they’ll just get in each other's way.” Eskil muses. “Let’s join the others keeping the Sneasel occupied. Keep an eye on that Weavile if you can, though. That’s the real threat here.”

A nod from Belial. “Alright, we’ll help keep the mob busy until the boss falls.”

“Separate one from the bunch with an Ember. Hit it with an Iron Tail if it tries to get close, if it keeps its distance, hit it with Incinerate instead. Try not to get ambushed by the rest of the mob in the meantime.” Eskil instructs, after a moment of thought.

Belial gives his trainer a wolfish grin, flames building in his mouth, and then heads into the fray, looking for a target.

There was a large gathering in the town square of Galea Town. As Athena counted heads, she was moved by the number of trainers who had answered her call and travelled to the Cloud Garden to help out. Clearing her throat, she finally addressed the crowd. “Hi everyone, I’d like to thank you all for coming here! What we are about to face is on a scale too large for all of us who call this place home, so every bit of assistance does a world of good.” Many of the Galean citizens who are in attendance applauded, showing their appreciation for all of the visitors. “For those of you who help take down the Pokemon controlling the Starline Waterfall, please follow me for more details. If you wish to stay here and help the town, Jet here will organize things. Thank you!”

As Athena broke off from the gathering with a group of trainers, the ranger known as Jet stepped forward to address the remainder. “Like Athena said, thank you for coming to help. Every bit matters!” Standing next to Jet was Samuel the woodcutter who was accompanied by men and women from the town. They were each carrying a small bundle of parchment, which they began passing out to the trainers. Upon closer inspection, the trainers had been handed a map. “As I speak there is a large number of wild Pokemon sweeping across the region taking over the environment, eating crops, and destroying property. Our first task is to head up towards the Oran Orchard and save their farm from ravenous Pokemon. Here is a map of the Cloud Garden for your personal use.”

“We are located here, in the red area by the lake. The small green dot to the northwest of town is known as the Rose Garden while the thin green strip directly north is Oran Orchard. Time is of the essence, so in order to make sure we get there quickly, some of the residents here have assembled a couple of sleighs to take us to the Orchard. Samuel here will lead the way,” Jet concluded, motioning over to the woodsman. Samuel nodded, adding, “Thanks, Jet. Right this way, folks.”

After Jet finished speaking, Samuel guided the trainers down the street to the edge of town. Awaiting them were two large wooden carriages where the wheels had been replaced with long wooden blades to traverse the snow and ice. Before the two sleighs were a pair of Mudsdales that were tied up and ready to go. Because they were agricultural Pokemon, they weren’t ready to take on combat, but they were certainly strong enough to pull a carriage full of trainers. The Mudsdales didn’t seem too comfortable with the cold temperature, but were ready to do their job regardless. With twelve trainers remaining behind to assist the town, Jet had six board each carriage before they set off.

As the Mudsdales left town and trotted north, the towering trees of the Cloud Forest appeared on the horizon. Everything had been coated in a layer of bright white snow, and snowflakes continued to trickle down from above, forever replenishing an endless supply of white. Along the way they passed a few countryside houses, most of which had been submerged in snow and appeared abandoned for the time being. Some of the houses appeared to have their windows broken in, as if something had already ransacked the house. Small animal footprints in the snow seemed to confirm that suspicion.

Eventually the two carriages arrived at a quaint farm known as the Oran Orchard where they found rows and rows of berry trees ruined by the cold temperature. Several of them had even been snapped in two, as if there was a violent struggle. Accompanying the destruction was a chorus of grunts and yells coming from further in the orchard. “Quick, let’s go help them out!” Samuel called out, jumping out of one of the sleighs and onto the thick snow below. With Jet and the other trainers following in pursuit, they made their way deeper into the cluster of berry trees.

Following the sounds of heated shouting and angry screeches, the group came upon a pair of men and their Pokemon. It was none other than Adam and Isaac, the father and son of the Applewood family, and their Herdier named Lady and Miltank named Bessie. Neither Pokemon was in good condition as they were surrounded by a mob of Sneasel. Bessie darted around, trying her best to Rollout through the snow, but it was tough to gain traction against the quicker opponents and the Miltank was struggling to catch her breath.

With the new group of trainers approaching, the two farmers let out a sigh of relief while the Sneasels hissed angrily. “Thank god you’ve come!” Adam exclaimed, out of breath himself. Looking around, there appeared to be more Sneasel than the eye could count, and they were moving too fast that it would have been impossible to try. "Let’s start thinning out their numbers and then we can hopefully scare off the leftovers,” Jet called out while tossing a Pokeball. A Skarmory appeared and quickly took to the air before swooping down and hitting a Sneasel with a Steel Wing. The Sneasel shrieked in pain, which seemed to echo throughout the orchard.

The rest of the Sneasels growled in unison until a loud rustling in the trees behind them got nearer and nearer. Bursting into the clearing was a Weavile, who was chowing down on a berry in its hand. “Weav…” it hissed, looking to take charge of the situation. “That must be their leader!” Isaac called out while bending over to tend to Lady. Jet nodded in agreement. “If we can take down their leader, it might make things easier for us!” As it stared down the group of trainer, Weavile let out a menacing hiss. This bandit was a tough customer, and it appeared to have no intentions of backing down from its hoard of berries.

In order to keep things organized for us to update, please use only 1 Pokemon in combat at a time and order up to no more than 3 attacks at a time. Reminder: this campaign will be updated every weekend around Saturday/Sunday, so if you are unable to reply in time do not worry. There is no penalty for missing an update; simply reply to the latest update to keep up with the plot. Please reply in Paleturquoise

Venturing over to the thinned group, Drew found he'd missed the start of the rally, the waterfall group indeed having departed. Thankfully, a good number had stayed behind to act as the town's defense, more than Drew really expected. Looking around at the faces, he thought he might even recognize a couple from the last (decidedly less dire) event that happened here, though any names escaped him. Oh well, there'd be time to address that later, probably, Drew mused as he looked over the provided map. Seemed they'd have enough on their hands for the moment with whatever was going down at the orchards.

And going down it was. A short, yet tense, Mudsdale-drawn sleigh ride later, they finally reached the berry farm only to find the owners already thick in battle with a mob of Sneasel. The farmers' Herdier and Miltank were holding their own but only just as the Ice-types had a distinct advantage in number. Or rather, they had had the numbers advantage. A bit amazing what a baker’s dozen of trainers can do to shift the tides of battle.

The guy in the cloak that Drew remembered from the Rose War immediately stepped up alongside the ranger with a strategy in mind: slow the berry-thieves down with a good old tricky sort of room. Admittedly, it was a very good strategy, even if it would screw over most of Drew's own team of speedsters. He'd almost wanted to bring out Stealth for a Weavile on Weavile fight, but with this field alteration Stealth would be at as much of a disadvantage as the foes were. Not to mention the confusion that might result from having an ally Weavile in this brawl. Friendly fire would very much not be appreciated.

As for other options... "You want crowd control?" Drew called out to cloak-guy as most of the others started focusing on either the boss-Weavile or individual Sneasels. "We can give you crowd control." Turning to Rotom, who was watching the fight with rapt attention, he continued with a grin. "Hey Rotom, you want to be a doll and Charge yourself up? I'm thinking a nice Discharge is just what this Sneasel mob needs. You should be quick enough to zip into the thick of 'em before that Trick Room is up. And then hey, for shits'n'gigs, you could Discharge on 'em a second time."

Rotom returned his grin with a smirk, and Drew immediately knew another he was about to hear another damn reference from that damn movie. "So, you're saying for the first time in forever I'm actually gonna battle?"

Rotom's cackling drowned out Drew's groan as the Plasma Pokémon joined the fray.

There was a large gathering in the town square of Galea Town. As Athena counted heads, she was moved by the number of trainers who had answered her call and travelled to the Cloud Garden to help out. Clearing her throat, she finally addressed the crowd. “Hi everyone, I’d like to thank you all for coming here! What we are about to face is on a scale too large for all of us who call this place home, so every bit of assistance does a world of good.” Many of the Galean citizens who are in attendance applauded, showing their appreciation for all of the visitors. “For those of you who help take down the Pokemon controlling the Starline Waterfall, please follow me for more details. If you wish to stay here and help the town, Jet here will organize things. Thank you!”

As Athena broke off from the gathering with a group of trainers, the ranger known as Jet stepped forward to address the remainder. “Like Athena said, thank you for coming to help. Every bit matters!” Standing next to Jet was Samuel the woodcutter who was accompanied by men and women from the town. They were each carrying a small bundle of parchment, which they began passing out to the trainers. Upon closer inspection, the trainers had been handed a map. “As I speak there is a large number of wild Pokemon sweeping across the region taking over the environment, eating crops, and destroying property. Our first task is to head up towards the Oran Orchard and save their farm from ravenous Pokemon. Here is a map of the Cloud Garden for your personal use.”

“We are located here, in the red area by the lake. The small green dot to the northwest of town is known as the Rose Garden while the thin green strip directly north is Oran Orchard. Time is of the essence, so in order to make sure we get there quickly, some of the residents here have assembled a couple of sleighs to take us to the Orchard. Samuel here will lead the way,” Jet concluded, motioning over to the woodsman. Samuel nodded, adding, “Thanks, Jet. Right this way, folks.”

After Jet finished speaking, Samuel guided the trainers down the street to the edge of town. Awaiting them were two large wooden carriages where the wheels had been replaced with long wooden blades to traverse the snow and ice. Before the two sleighs were a pair of Mudsdales that were tied up and ready to go. Because they were agricultural Pokemon, they weren’t ready to take on combat, but they were certainly strong enough to pull a carriage full of trainers. The Mudsdales didn’t seem too comfortable with the cold temperature, but were ready to do their job regardless. With twelve trainers remaining behind to assist the town, Jet had six board each carriage before they set off.

As the Mudsdales left town and trotted north, the towering trees of the Cloud Forest appeared on the horizon. Everything had been coated in a layer of bright white snow, and snowflakes continued to trickle down from above, forever replenishing an endless supply of white. Along the way they passed a few countryside houses, most of which had been submerged in snow and appeared abandoned for the time being. Some of the houses appeared to have their windows broken in, as if something had already ransacked the house. Small animal footprints in the snow seemed to confirm that suspicion.

Eventually the two carriages arrived at a quaint farm known as the Oran Orchard where they found rows and rows of berry trees ruined by the cold temperature. Several of them had even been snapped in two, as if there was a violent struggle. Accompanying the destruction was a chorus of grunts and yells coming from further in the orchard. “Quick, let’s go help them out!” Samuel called out, jumping out of one of the sleighs and onto the thick snow below. With Jet and the other trainers following in pursuit, they made their way deeper into the cluster of berry trees.

Following the sounds of heated shouting and angry screeches, the group came upon a pair of men and their Pokemon. It was none other than Adam and Isaac, the father and son of the Applewood family, and their Herdier named Lady and Miltank named Bessie. Neither Pokemon was in good condition as they were surrounded by a mob of Sneasel. Bessie darted around, trying her best to Rollout through the snow, but it was tough to gain traction against the quicker opponents and the Miltank was struggling to catch her breath.

With the new group of trainers approaching, the two farmers let out a sigh of relief while the Sneasels hissed angrily. “Thank god you’ve come!” Adam exclaimed, out of breath himself. Looking around, there appeared to be more Sneasel than the eye could count, and they were moving too fast that it would have been impossible to try. "Let’s start thinning out their numbers and then we can hopefully scare off the leftovers,” Jet called out while tossing a Pokeball. A Skarmory appeared and quickly took to the air before swooping down and hitting a Sneasel with a Steel Wing. The Sneasel shrieked in pain, which seemed to echo throughout the orchard.

The rest of the Sneasels growled in unison until a loud rustling in the trees behind them got nearer and nearer. Bursting into the clearing was a Weavile, who was chowing down on a berry in its hand. “Weav…” it hissed, looking to take charge of the situation. “That must be their leader!” Isaac called out while bending over to tend to Lady. Jet nodded in agreement. “If we can take down their leader, it might make things easier for us!” As it stared down the group of trainer, Weavile let out a menacing hiss. This bandit was a tough customer, and it appeared to have no intentions of backing down from its hoard of berries.

In order to keep things organized for us to update, please use only 1 Pokemon in combat at a time and order up to no more than 3 attacks at a time. Reminder: this campaign will be updated every weekend around Saturday/Sunday, so if you are unable to reply in time do not worry. There is no penalty for missing an update; simply reply to the latest update to keep up with the plot. Please reply in Paleturquoise

It probably wasn't saying much, but it Chroma knew for a fact that she wouldn't have that advantage of land familiarity with this first defensive mission- she hadn't been to many areas on the mountain, and had never before stepped foot in the Oran Orchard specifically, to boot. As such, she had no idea what it was supposed to look like under normal circumstances (aside from a bit more green, of course), whereas the invading Sharp Claw Pokemon probably had some time to acclimate themselves to the newly created wasteland by now... Good thing the earth seemed to be relatively flat.

"Alright, let's see what these things can do..." the mystic muttered as she pulled out her pokedex and scanned one of the not-fully-evolved assaulters.

Quote:

"Sneasel, the Sharp Claw pokemon. A Dark and Ice Type. It blends into the dark of night to ambush its prey. Sneasel will attack Sandshrew, but its hard skin can cause Sneasel’s claws to snap off."

"...Aren't sneasel and sandshrew from two drastically different climates?" Chroma asked herself, looking around as the others started to release their pokemon for battle. "Alright, they're really weak to Fighting, and seem to be the speedy type, so... Let's match their spe- Huh?"

She held herself back from sending out her passimian as a bizarre field of energy suddenly spread across the orchard, covering it in a blue grid of sorts. "Trick Room?!" Chroma sighed, giving the man with the artificial hand an unhappy glare as she pocketed the pokeball and started to think of a different strategy. Both Tobu and Miapladicus made use of their speed to press an upper hand, so they were now less than ideal. Berue was certainly slow enough to be able to make tremendous use of the new minidimansion, but she was weak to Ice and only had one move that could hit them for super effective damage (and that move had the chance of increasing her speed, which would mess up her advantage). Which left her with... Louise.

"As much as I don't think using your ace early is a good idea in a time like this, Louise, show these marauders what for!" The mawile materialized in a flash of light, and immediately started to test her movement in this new scenario. "Lure one over with Sweet Scent, smack 'em with a good ol' Power-Up Punch, and give them a reason to fear you with Seismic Toss!" The mawile nodded and went to work on her orders immediately- sneasel were known for their viciousness when they absolutely had to battle, so she was curious to see just how much good that did them now.

There was a large gathering in the town square of Galea Town. As Athena counted heads, she was moved by the number of trainers who had answered her call and travelled to the Cloud Garden to help out. Clearing her throat, she finally addressed the crowd. “Hi everyone, I’d like to thank you all for coming here! What we are about to face is on a scale too large for all of us who call this place home, so every bit of assistance does a world of good.” Many of the Galean citizens who are in attendance applauded, showing their appreciation for all of the visitors. “For those of you who help take down the Pokemon controlling the Starline Waterfall, please follow me for more details. If you wish to stay here and help the town, Jet here will organize things. Thank you!”

As Athena broke off from the gathering with a group of trainers, the ranger known as Jet stepped forward to address the remainder. “Like Athena said, thank you for coming to help. Every bit matters!” Standing next to Jet was Samuel the woodcutter who was accompanied by men and women from the town. They were each carrying a small bundle of parchment, which they began passing out to the trainers. Upon closer inspection, the trainers had been handed a map. “As I speak there is a large number of wild Pokemon sweeping across the region taking over the environment, eating crops, and destroying property. Our first task is to head up towards the Oran Orchard and save their farm from ravenous Pokemon. Here is a map of the Cloud Garden for your personal use.”

“We are located here, in the red area by the lake. The small green dot to the northwest of town is known as the Rose Garden while the thin green strip directly north is Oran Orchard. Time is of the essence, so in order to make sure we get there quickly, some of the residents here have assembled a couple of sleighs to take us to the Orchard. Samuel here will lead the way,” Jet concluded, motioning over to the woodsman. Samuel nodded, adding, “Thanks, Jet. Right this way, folks.”

After Jet finished speaking, Samuel guided the trainers down the street to the edge of town. Awaiting them were two large wooden carriages where the wheels had been replaced with long wooden blades to traverse the snow and ice. Before the two sleighs were a pair of Mudsdales that were tied up and ready to go. Because they were agricultural Pokemon, they weren’t ready to take on combat, but they were certainly strong enough to pull a carriage full of trainers. The Mudsdales didn’t seem too comfortable with the cold temperature, but were ready to do their job regardless. With twelve trainers remaining behind to assist the town, Jet had six board each carriage before they set off.

As the Mudsdales left town and trotted north, the towering trees of the Cloud Forest appeared on the horizon. Everything had been coated in a layer of bright white snow, and snowflakes continued to trickle down from above, forever replenishing an endless supply of white. Along the way they passed a few countryside houses, most of which had been submerged in snow and appeared abandoned for the time being. Some of the houses appeared to have their windows broken in, as if something had already ransacked the house. Small animal footprints in the snow seemed to confirm that suspicion.

Eventually the two carriages arrived at a quaint farm known as the Oran Orchard where they found rows and rows of berry trees ruined by the cold temperature. Several of them had even been snapped in two, as if there was a violent struggle. Accompanying the destruction was a chorus of grunts and yells coming from further in the orchard. “Quick, let’s go help them out!” Samuel called out, jumping out of one of the sleighs and onto the thick snow below. With Jet and the other trainers following in pursuit, they made their way deeper into the cluster of berry trees.

Following the sounds of heated shouting and angry screeches, the group came upon a pair of men and their Pokemon. It was none other than Adam and Isaac, the father and son of the Applewood family, and their Herdier named Lady and Miltank named Bessie. Neither Pokemon was in good condition as they were surrounded by a mob of Sneasel. Bessie darted around, trying her best to Rollout through the snow, but it was tough to gain traction against the quicker opponents and the Miltank was struggling to catch her breath.

With the new group of trainers approaching, the two farmers let out a sigh of relief while the Sneasels hissed angrily. “Thank god you’ve come!” Adam exclaimed, out of breath himself. Looking around, there appeared to be more Sneasel than the eye could count, and they were moving too fast that it would have been impossible to try. "Let’s start thinning out their numbers and then we can hopefully scare off the leftovers,” Jet called out while tossing a Pokeball. A Skarmory appeared and quickly took to the air before swooping down and hitting a Sneasel with a Steel Wing. The Sneasel shrieked in pain, which seemed to echo throughout the orchard.

The rest of the Sneasels growled in unison until a loud rustling in the trees behind them got nearer and nearer. Bursting into the clearing was a Weavile, who was chowing down on a berry in its hand. “Weav…” it hissed, looking to take charge of the situation. “That must be their leader!” Isaac called out while bending over to tend to Lady. Jet nodded in agreement. “If we can take down their leader, it might make things easier for us!” As it stared down the group of trainer, Weavile let out a menacing hiss. This bandit was a tough customer, and it appeared to have no intentions of backing down from its hoard of berries.

In order to keep things organized for us to update, please use only 1 Pokemon in combat at a time and order up to no more than 3 attacks at a time. Reminder: this campaign will be updated every weekend around Saturday/Sunday, so if you are unable to reply in time do not worry. There is no penalty for missing an update; simply reply to the latest update to keep up with the plot. Please reply in Paleturquoise

Patches was beginning to get a sense of the true atmosphere surrounding this situation as she rode in the carriage with the other trainers. “This all seems a bit too real for a movie…” Her Espeon listens as Patches begins to voice her thoughts out loud. This is one of the more serious situations they have ever found themselves in and it’s no surprise that even Patches isn’t able to remain completely oblivious to the reality of it. Rika is just happy that despite the naďve reasons Patches had for bringing them there, that at least they made it. It’s clear that the Cloud Garden really needs their help.

Upon arriving at the orchard, Patches remains silent as she takes her surroundings in, she had never quite seen anything like this before. She wondered if the orchard always looked this way, she wouldn’t know since he had never been there before. As she wondered about whether or not being frozen would preserve the berries freshness, she was eventually brought out of her trance by the sound of battle. “Those are... Sneasel!?” She immediately notices the Sneasel but looks past them to see the exhausted Miltank and Herdier who are doing their best to fend them off and feels sorry for the Pokemon.

“Heh, Sneasel. It looks like I should have brought Sir Tibs along.” After Jet shouts out the strategy, Patches watches as the other trainers quickly leap off of the carriage and join the fray. “W-well, I think we should probably join them Rika! We don’t want them to win these movie try outs over us!” Patches keeps her voice enthusiastic as she hops off the carriage with Rika at her side. At this point, Patches is becoming more and more aware that this situation is probably real and that there are no such try outs, but she chooses to ignore those feelings for now because thoughts like those may create fear within her and right now, she needed to be brave. “Alright Rika, are you ready!?” The Espeon charges forward and waits for her commands. “Use your Quick Attack to charge through as many of those Sneasel as you can and make your way over to that Weavile! Then use your Tackle to distract it while the other Pokemon attack it! These other trainers are working with us so make sure you give one of their Pokemon a Helping Hand if you think they need it! Go go go!” Rika takes off, completely impressed that Patches is actually pretty serious right now.

As the angry horde of Sneasels hissed and snarled, the group of trainers called forth their Pokemon, ready to defend the farm. While the trainers issued orders to their Pokemon, Weavile’s eyes narrowed and it munched on a berry, waiting to see who would face it head-on first. The two Cloud Garden trial captains had joined the fray as well, Jet’s Skarmory and Samuel’s Sudowoodo ready for battle. As they felt their advantage in numbers becoming weaker by the minute with all of these new opponents, the Sneasels grew restless and launched their next assault.

Blurs of black and magenta flew throughout the orchard as the Sneasel pounced into action. Bill’s Squirtle, Silver was first to retaliate, spraying a stream of Bubbles to knock a few of the Sneasels off their feet. Silver followed the strike up with a Water Gun to knock one of the Sneasels in the middle back into a tree and finished off the combo by ramming into it with a Tackle of his hard shell. The Sneasel slumped over, defeated, which did not sit well with its two allies that had been previously targeted by the Bubble. They converged on Silver, one of them striking him in the back with a Feint Attack while the other Scratched him on the shell for light damage.

Choux the Snubbull was the first to come to Silver’s defense, hey eyes glowing red and punched and kicked at a Sneasel with a flurry of Close Combat maneuvers, instantly knocking it out. As she panted to catch her breath, her guard lowered, she stared down the third Sneasel with a Scary Face, hoping to scare it off, but the weasel would not be deterred so easily. It quickly slipped behind the Snubbull and hit her with a Faint Attack causing her to become so surprised that her Rattled disposition caused her adrenaline to spike.

While all of the enemies darted about rapidly, only one calmly remained in place while eating its berry; Weavile. Nuhuko the Lunatone locked in on the big boss and fired forth a Power Gem, a reddish beam of light striking Weavile in the shoulder, causing it to drop its berry. If the Lunatone wanted its attention, it surely got it now. Leering angrily, the Weavile suddenly darted forward as fast as it could. However, once it got within striking distance of Nuhuko, the Lunatone released a blast of energy that distorted the very fabric of physics in the surrounding area. A cube-shaped dimension known as a Trick Room filled the clearing and appeared to warp the movement of the Pokemon caught in it. However, when Nuhuko turned its attention back to the Weavile, the boss was missing. Nuhuko began looking around for it, but by the time it was finally located, it was too late. Weavile had slipped into the Lunatone’s blind spot and struck it from behind with a Feint Attack for solid damage.

Back in the conflict with Sneasel, Choux seemed to be running circles around her foe as her Rattled adrenaline gave her an advantage over the Sneasel she had shown her Scary Face to. However, as the properties of the Trick Room warped the area, Choux suddenly found herself much slower than the Sneasel, who Scratched her vengefully. All she could muster after that was to clamp down her jaw on the Sneasel’s arm with a light Bite.

Caeda the Skarmory swooped into action next, crashing into the ground with her talons out first in order to kick up a Rock Slide that battered several Sneasel for considerable damage. She then kicked back off the ground and flew into the heart of the Trick Room, ramming the Weavile with her tough Iron Head. Weavile groaned as the Skarmory continued her fly-by, gliding out of range. Hotstuff the Charmander began concentrating deeply, ready to Focus all of his energy into a massive Punch on the Weavile, but was immediately knocked onto his back as a random Sneasel promptly Faked him Out. He blew forth a Flamethrower in frustration, catching the Sneasel more than the Weavile, but dealing a good amount of damage nonetheless. As the Sneasel fell in defeat, Hotstuff followed up with a second Flamethrower, catching the Weavile head-on this time. Weavile hissed as some of the snow melted and rammed into Hotstuff with a strong Quick Attack.

With Sneasel swarming the Pokemon from all directions, a contingent of Pokemon stood firmly to take them all on. Lune the Eevee made her best attempt to kick up a Sand Attack, slapping a paw full of snow in a Sneasel’s face to little effect. It did buy her time however to pepper it with a flurry of Swift stars. Louise the Mawile emitted a Sweet Scent from her Venus fly trap-like horn which lured in a number of Sneasel. She clocked one of them with a Power-Up Punch, her fist glowing orange and further bolstering her attack. She then grappled the Sneasel tightly and after planting her horn firmly in the ground, she flipped both herself and the Sneasel high into the air before slamming her opponent down on the ground with a hard Seismic Toss, knocking the Sneasel out in the process.

Meanwhile, Rotom as well as Belial the Houndoom faced off against their own mobs of Sneasels. Rotom began Charging up as much electricity as it could before Discharging it on a group of unsuspecting Sneasels for considerable damage. As it prepared to strike again, one of the Sneasels snuck up from behind and hit it with a Feint Attack for decent damage before becoming fried by a second Discharge that knocked it out and paralyzed two other weakened Sneasels. Belial the Houndoom picked out a Sneasel from the group and singed it with an Ember. As the Sneasel retaliated with a Quick Attack, the Houndoom swatted it down with a strike from his pointed Iron Tail, knocking it out.

As the remaining Pokemon converge on the Weavile, a number of Sneasels came to its defense. Looking to take out the Trick Room to regain their advantage, the Sneasels circled around Nuhuko menacingly. A pair of Sneasel lunged forward, hitting the wall of the dimension with an array of Fury Swipes which caused the walls to momentarily shake and glitch out, but as Lune offered the Lunatone a Helping Hand, Nuhuko was able to resupply the field with more energy.

It was now Leo the Spheal’s time to shine as the proud little sea lion pup barked his fiercest Growl in Weavile’s direction, getting its attention. As he then Curled into a Defensive ball, Rika the Espeon sped through the crowd of Sneasels, hitting a few of them with a Quick Attack before ramming into Weavile with a Tackle. Weavile was knocked backwards, losing its balance just in time for Caeda the Skarmory to swoop back in and ram it with another Iron Head. Leo then rolled forward, and with encouragement from Rika’s Helping Hand, collided with the Weavile for a powerful Rollout.

Weavile had taken quite a few beatings at this point and Screeched loudly in a combination of anger, frustration, and pain, hurting everyone’s ears in the process. Weavile began glowing a light blue before sending an Avalanche of snow and ice in all directions. Caeda, Rika, Nuhuko, Hotstuff, Lune, and Leo were all caught in the powerful attack, although Hotstuff’s natural resistances and Leo’s Thick Fat lessened the blow for them individually.

“Great job, guys!” Jet called out as he took care of a Sneasel with his Skarmory. The Weavile was breathing pretty heavily but appeared to still have some fight left in it. A few of the trainers’ Pokemon had taken some decent hits as well, but for the most part everyone was still raring to go. As the trainers began to assess the situation, an old and frantic voice crackled over Jet’s walkie-talkie. “Jet! We need you over here! Swinub… they’re taking over the garden!”

Jet bit his lip and summoned one of the Mudsdale-drawn carriages. “Don’t worry, we can handle things here,” Samuel spoke with a reassuring nod. Jet nodded back and addressed the group, “Looks like we’re needed over at the Rose Garden as well. You’re welcome to remain here and help out against the Sneasels, but if you wish to tag along, come with me! The other carriage will remain here if any of you need a ride later.” Jet boarded the sleigh with the trainers who volunteered to follow him and they were on their way.

~~~~~~~

It was a short ride back the way they came as they headed in the direction of town. However, before they arrived there, they turned west and made their way toward the Rose Garden. What was once a beautiful garden filled with vibrant flowers was now a winter wonderland, filled with wilted grass type Pokemon. There was a sea of brown across the garden as well, as a horde of Swinub had taken over and were grazing on various plants as well as rooting up mud and dirt everywhere.

The group fought their way through the icy little boars before making it to the center of the garden where they found Primrose, the young heiress of the garden huddled with her Musharna for warmth while the old gardener Poppy attempted to hold off Swinub with a rake. “Thank goodness!” Poppy breathed a sigh of relief, “Everyone was stuck at town, but my Gogoat and I fought our way here to protect young Mistress Nightingale. Gogoat didn’t last too long, unfortunately, and young mistress has gotten a bit of a chill here…” Primrose had Poppy’s coat draped over her shoulders and was barely conscious as the cold had made her too weak to stand. The storm had come too suddenly, and she was unable to escape the garden in time before it hit. “Alright guys, let’s take care of these Swinub so we can get Primrose safely back to town!” Jet called out, calling forth his Skarmory once again.

You are now presented with a choice. You may either continue fighting Sneasel and Weavile at the Oran Orchard, or you may take on Swinub at the Rose Garden. If you choose the latter, simply include the travel and your new orders in your response. There will be ample opportunities to move between the areas each week, so do not worry about being left behind!

The journey to the waterfall was hard on everyone involved, even Pokemon who would normally do well in this type of weather were having a hard time. On top of that, everyone could feel the ominous atmosphere grow as they got closer to their destination and once they all arrived it was clear why. Athena doesn’t even have the chance to get through her first sentence before she is interrupted by the unexpected ambush of Vanillite and its evolved forms. Knowing that there is no more time for talking, Athena and her Clefable immediately get to work fighting. Visibility immediately declines further than the storm itself had already caused once several Vanillite create Icy Wind to fill the area. Athena is barely visible and the trainers are left to think fast as there are Ice Beams blasting toward them from random directions plus an Avalanche threatening to crush them. The dark sphere whose cry had marked the beginning of these attacks sits atop the waterfall and watches.

The first Pokemon to start fighting is, Aster the Shiny Mareanie who had decided to burst out of her ball and insist on fighting. After deciding to single out one of the Vanillish, Aster charges in and is immediately blasted by one of the Ice Beams that have been shooting from seemingly random places due to it being so hard to see. This doesn’t seem to ruin any of her confidence though, and after tumbling in the snow she gets up and continues for the Vanillish she had her sights set on. The Pokemon’s attention is elsewhere so her Toxic hits without any issue. Now poisoned, the Vanillish sees Aster and lets out a cry in frustration. “Liiish!” The Pokemon immediately uses Acid Armor in order to defend itself and is then hit mercilessly by Aster’s Liquidation which does critical damage. The Vanillish is very angry now and rains down on the Shiny Mareanie with an Avalanche which quickly buries the Pokemon in the snow and hurts twice as much as it normally would. Aster isn’t done yet and leaps out of the snow mound and uses Venoshock, drenching the Vanillish in a toxic liquid that does a great deal of damage since it’s already poisoned. The Pokemon is clearly hurting at this point but isn’t ready to give up and uses a Mirror Coat which gives Aster double the pain the Vanillish just received. Both Pokemon are now hurt and panting while staring each other down.

Although Athena had practically disappeared in the storm, Happy the Flareon was able to catch up with her. The Clefable wasn’t holding back at all and was giving one of the Vanillish a serious Wake-Up Slap upon Happy’s arrival. As soon as the Clefable had paused for a second, Happy used that as his chance to Take Down the Vanillish himself before it had a chance to retaliate. The Vanillish now fights back and shoots Happy with a Beam of Ice which sends Happy rolling across the snow quite a bit and it takes him a while before he can regain his bearings because of the storm. “Help him out Selene! Use Disarming Voice!” Athena wants to make sure the Vanilluxe doesn’t have a chance to get Happy while he’s down and has her Clefable draw attention back to her. The Disarming Voice does exactly what Athena had hoped and not only hurts it, but it’s no longer looking at Happy. Back on his feet and not about to give up he uses his Rock Smash on the Vanillish and immediately afterwards blasts it in the face with Flamethrower. While the Vanillish is being overwhelmed with flames Athena sees this as an opportunity. “Selene! Finish it off with Meteor Mash!” The Clefable runs up as soon as the flames stop and pounds it with a Meteor Mash sending it flying. The Pokemon seems to be down for the count but there are other serious opponents out there so after a quick thank you Athena heads for her next fight.

Another battle was happening elsewhere, Millie the Miltank’s Thick Fat was thankfully helping her endure the endless storm around her so approaching her opponent while avoiding Ice Beams was challenging but not as difficult as it was for some of the other Pokemon. She also went right for one of the Vanilluxe and immediately Captivated it. With its guard slightly lowered, Millie charges in with a Zen Headbutt and smashes into the Vanilluxe causing it to flinch and immediately begins to spin into a Rollout smashing into it once more. The Vanilluxe is now angry and decides to take it out on not only Millie but everyone else around it too and unleashes a Hail storm into the already chaotic weather. Large balls of thick ice crash down and smash into Millie. Beside her is Balerion the Shiny Charmeleon who is after the other Vanilluxe who is further away. While being pelted with the Hail he uses his Ancient Power to hurl stones of ice at the Vanilluxe in order to grab its attention. It begins to charge toward Balerion but is momentarily interrupted when Stahl the Shiny Starmie shoots off a Confuse Ray at the unsuspecting Pokemon. Slightly dazed, the Vanilluxe doesn’t get to attack right away and Balerion uses this opportunity to charge in with a Flare Blitz, the flames cause the snow beneath his feet to melt but it is immediately replaced due to the storm. He crashes into the Vanilluxe and seems to hurt it quite a bit but also hurt himself. Surprisingly, the opponent is not burned but that doesn’t stop Balerion from clawing at the Vanilluxe with Metal Claw. The Vanilluxe uses Avalanche in retaliation, its confusion causes it to bury not on Balerion but itself as well. However, it’s barely phased by its own attack and comes out of the snow without a care.

While several of the Pokemon have aimed at specific targets, several other Pokemon have been holding off the incoming horde of Vanillite so that they don’t get in the way and before they overwhelm everyone. Stahl is shooting what almost feels like an endless wave of them with Swift and isn’t missing a single target. Whenever the occasional Vanillite slips by it is knocked back by a glowing light from Power Gem. Things seemed to be going very well for Stahl but sadly it doesn’t last. The Vanillite are tired of getting taken out with stars and work together to retaliate, all of them begin to hurl Icicle Spear’s at Stahl who is having trouble dodging the extremely large number of icicles being hurled at it and it begins to take its toll. Wildfire who used his Foresight to find a good place to fight, noticed Stahl having trouble and used his own Swift to start pushing back the extra Vanillite who were outnumbering Stahl’s Swift. This group seems to be under control again and Wildfire and Stahl work together for a bit with their Swifts. Somehow the waves feel endless, eventually Wildfire uses Heat Wave in hopes of putting a big dent in their numbers and it works at first but then it also causes them to fight back with Mirror Coat which hurts Wildfire quite a bit.

Defending from another direction is Kong the Slaking who currently seems to be enjoying himself but who knows how long that will last before he gets bored. He swings his Hammer Arm and knocks out an entire line of incoming Vanillite. And that about does it for his interest, he Traunts for a bit and decides to take a moment to lay in the snow and just take in the atmosphere. Meanwhile, he has been getting surrounded by a bunch of very upset looking Vanillite who didn’t enjoy being knocked around by him. Some of them decide to use Acid Armor in order to protect themselves while others ambush him with a bright Mirror Shot which surprises him. It actually surprises him enough to bring his interest back into the battle. He slowly gets up and looks at the group of Vanillite who flashed that move at him and slowly raises his fist into the air and then brings it down for a powerful Dynamic Punch. Of course, he completely misses the group that had attacked him since his accuracy was suffering but he does manage to hit the group that was covered in their Acid Armor and they are looking a bit confused. Satisfied with his only barely successful revenge, he is bored once again and lays back in the snow to Traunt for a bit more. Annoyed, the Vanillite begin to use Hail which pelt not only Kong but some of the surrounding allies as well. Akame the Pawniard wasn’t too far away from Kong and had just got done using Magnet Rise and was now dealing with the hail that Kong’s opponents had kicked up, fortunately being levitated helped her dodge some of the incoming balls of ice. After being pelted a few times and kicking some rocks out of the snow, it became clear that her Stealth Rocks were needed to not only shield her from incoming Pokemon, but from the large balls of ice being hurled at her as well. The incoming Vanillite stop their charge and begin to hurl Icicle Spears at Akane, breaking her rocks away and immediately overwhelming her with their attack. She isn’t about to back down though and decides to get some Revenge and smashes into a number of the Vanillite with twice as much damage as they were dishing out. They didn’t like being surprised like that and a few of them now appear to be starting an Uproar out of frustration.

Everyone’s battle is tough, there is not a single Pokemon that isn’t giving it their all. The Glalie continues to watch from atop the waterfall, seemingly not making a move but its presence can’t help but be felt by all. “This isn’t good!! Everyone, we’re surrounded!” Athena, who had been on her way over to help fight one of the Vanilluxe has just made a discovery. Everyone had been so distracted with their own fights that they hadn’t noticed that not all of the ice surrounding them was still. There were what appeared to be balls of ice rolling through the snow beside small moving glaciers from every direction and they were quickly closing in on the trainers and their Pokemon. After closing the distance, those balls of ice almost simultaneously begin to open up revealing many Alolan Sandshrew who waste no time making the weather even worse by blasting Powder Snow in what seems to be every direction. The many Bergmite beside them have no problem joining in and use their Icy Wind to continue what the Vanillite had started earlier. “Sandslash!!!” Suddenly, the cries of two Alolan Sandslash echo through the air, drawing attention to where they stand just behind the Bergmite and Alolan Sandshrew. There is a pause of silence where the only thing everyone hears is the whistle of the strong winds from the storm. This moment of peace doesn’t last long though, the Glalie at the top of the waterfall lets out another one of its cries and the new opponents along with the old, charge into battle.

In order to keep things organized for us to update, please use only 1 Pokemon in combat at a time and order up to no more than 3 attacks at a time. Reminder: this campaign will be updated every weekend around Saturday/Sunday, so if you are unable to reply in time do not worry. There is no penalty for missing an update; simply reply to the latest update to keep up with the plot. Please reply in DeepSkyBlue

The journey to the waterfall was hard on everyone involved, even Pokemon who would normally do well in this type of weather were having a hard time. On top of that, everyone could feel the ominous atmosphere grow as they got closer to their destination and once they all arrived it was clear why. Athena doesn’t even have the chance to get through her first sentence before she is interrupted by the unexpected ambush of Vanillite and its evolved forms. Knowing that there is no more time for talking, Athena and her Clefable immediately get to work fighting. Visibility immediately declines further than the storm itself had already caused once several Vanillite create Icy Wind to fill the area. Athena is barely visible and the trainers are left to think fast as there are Ice Beams blasting toward them from random directions plus an Avalanche threatening to crush them. The dark sphere whose cry had marked the beginning of these attacks sits atop the waterfall and watches.

The first Pokemon to start fighting is, Aster the Shiny Mareanie who had decided to burst out of her ball and insist on fighting. After deciding to single out one of the Vanillish, Aster charges in and is immediately blasted by one of the Ice Beams that have been shooting from seemingly random places due to it being so hard to see. This doesn’t seem to ruin any of her confidence though, and after tumbling in the snow she gets up and continues for the Vanillish she had her sights set on. The Pokemon’s attention is elsewhere so her Toxic hits without any issue. Now poisoned, the Vanillish sees Aster and lets out a cry in frustration. “Liiish!” The Pokemon immediately uses Acid Armor in order to defend itself and is then hit mercilessly by Aster’s Liquidation which does critical damage. The Vanillish is very angry now and rains down on the Shiny Mareanie with an Avalanche which quickly buries the Pokemon in the snow and hurts twice as much as it normally would. Aster isn’t done yet and leaps out of the snow mound and uses Venoshock, drenching the Vanillish in a toxic liquid that does a great deal of damage since it’s already poisoned. The Pokemon is clearly hurting at this point but isn’t ready to give up and uses a Mirror Coat which gives Aster double the pain the Vanillish just received. Both Pokemon are now hurt and panting while staring each other down.

Although Athena had practically disappeared in the storm, Happy the Flareon was able to catch up with her. The Clefable wasn’t holding back at all and was giving one of the Vanillish a serious Wake-Up Slap upon Happy’s arrival. As soon as the Clefable had paused for a second, Happy used that as his chance to Take Down the Vanillish himself before it had a chance to retaliate. The Vanillish now fights back and shoots Happy with a Beam of Ice which sends Happy rolling across the snow quite a bit and it takes him a while before he can regain his bearings because of the storm. “Help him out Selene! Use Disarming Voice!” Athena wants to make sure the Vanilluxe doesn’t have a chance to get Happy while he’s down and has her Clefable draw attention back to her. The Disarming Voice does exactly what Athena had hoped and not only hurts it, but it’s no longer looking at Happy. Back on his feet and not about to give up he uses his Rock Smash on the Vanillish and immediately afterwards blasts it in the face with Flamethrower. While the Vanillish is being overwhelmed with flames Athena sees this as an opportunity. “Selene! Finish it off with Meteor Mash!” The Clefable runs up as soon as the flames stop and pounds it with a Meteor Mash sending it flying. The Pokemon seems to be down for the count but there are other serious opponents out there so after a quick thank you Athena heads for her next fight.

Another battle was happening elsewhere, Millie the Miltank’s Thick Fat was thankfully helping her endure the endless storm around her so approaching her opponent while avoiding Ice Beams was challenging but not as difficult as it was for some of the other Pokemon. She also went right for one of the Vanilluxe and immediately Captivated it. With its guard slightly lowered, Millie charges in with a Zen Headbutt and smashes into the Vanilluxe causing it to flinch and immediately begins to spin into a Rollout smashing into it once more. The Vanilluxe is now angry and decides to take it out on not only Millie but everyone else around it too and unleashes a Hail storm into the already chaotic weather. Large balls of thick ice crash down and smash into Millie. Beside her is Balerion the Shiny Charmeleon who is after the other Vanilluxe who is further away. While being pelted with the Hail he uses his Ancient Power to hurl stones of ice at the Vanilluxe in order to grab its attention. It begins to charge toward Balerion but is momentarily interrupted when Stahl the Shiny Starmie shoots off a Confuse Ray at the unsuspecting Pokemon. Slightly dazed, the Vanilluxe doesn’t get to attack right away and Balerion uses this opportunity to charge in with a Flare Blitz, the flames cause the snow beneath his feet to melt but it is immediately replaced due to the storm. He crashes into the Vanilluxe and seems to hurt it quite a bit but also hurt himself. Surprisingly, the opponent is not burned but that doesn’t stop Balerion from clawing at the Vanilluxe with Metal Claw. The Vanilluxe uses Avalanche in retaliation, its confusion causes it to bury not on Balerion but itself as well. However, it’s barely phased by its own attack and comes out of the snow without a care.

While several of the Pokemon have aimed at specific targets, several other Pokemon have been holding off the incoming horde of Vanillite so that they don’t get in the way and before they overwhelm everyone. Stahl is shooting what almost feels like an endless wave of them with Swift and isn’t missing a single target. Whenever the occasional Vanillite slips by it is knocked back by a glowing light from Power Gem. Things seemed to be going very well for Stahl but sadly it doesn’t last. The Vanillite are tired of getting taken out with stars and work together to retaliate, all of them begin to hurl Icicle Spear’s at Stahl who is having trouble dodging the extremely large number of icicles being hurled at it and it begins to take its toll. Wildfire who used his Foresight to find a good place to fight, noticed Stahl having trouble and used his own Swift to start pushing back the extra Vanillite who were outnumbering Stahl’s Swift. This group seems to be under control again and Wildfire and Stahl work together for a bit with their Swifts. Somehow the waves feel endless, eventually Wildfire uses Heat Wave in hopes of putting a big dent in their numbers and it works at first but then it also causes them to fight back with Mirror Coat which hurts Wildfire quite a bit.

Defending from another direction is Kong the Slaking who currently seems to be enjoying himself but who knows how long that will last before he gets bored. He swings his Hammer Arm and knocks out an entire line of incoming Vanillite. And that about does it for his interest, he Traunts for a bit and decides to take a moment to lay in the snow and just take in the atmosphere. Meanwhile, he has been getting surrounded by a bunch of very upset looking Vanillite who didn’t enjoy being knocked around by him. Some of them decide to use Acid Armor in order to protect themselves while others ambush him with a bright Mirror Shot which surprises him. It actually surprises him enough to bring his interest back into the battle. He slowly gets up and looks at the group of Vanillite who flashed that move at him and slowly raises his fist into the air and then brings it down for a powerful Dynamic Punch. Of course, he completely misses the group that had attacked him since his accuracy was suffering but he does manage to hit the group that was covered in their Acid Armor and they are looking a bit confused. Satisfied with his only barely successful revenge, he is bored once again and lays back in the snow to Traunt for a bit more. Annoyed, the Vanillite begin to use Hail which pelt not only Kong but some of the surrounding allies as well. Akame the Pawniard wasn’t too far away from Kong and had just got done using Magnet Rise and was now dealing with the hail that Kong’s opponents had kicked up, fortunately being levitated helped her dodge some of the incoming balls of ice. After being pelted a few times and kicking some rocks out of the snow, it became clear that her Stealth Rocks were needed to not only shield her from incoming Pokemon, but from the large balls of ice being hurled at her as well. The incoming Vanillite stop their charge and begin to hurl Icicle Spears at Akane, breaking her rocks away and immediately overwhelming her with their attack. She isn’t about to back down though and decides to get some Revenge and smashes into a number of the Vanillite with twice as much damage as they were dishing out. They didn’t like being surprised like that and a few of them now appear to be starting an Uproar out of frustration.

Everyone’s battle is tough, there is not a single Pokemon that isn’t giving it their all. The Glalie continues to watch from atop the waterfall, seemingly not making a move but its presence can’t help but be felt by all. “This isn’t good!! Everyone, we’re surrounded!” Athena, who had been on her way over to help fight one of the Vanilluxe has just made a discovery. Everyone had been so distracted with their own fights that they hadn’t noticed that not all of the ice surrounding them was still. There were what appeared to be balls of ice rolling through the snow beside small moving glaciers from every direction and they were quickly closing in on the trainers and their Pokemon. After closing the distance, those balls of ice almost simultaneously begin to open up revealing many Alolan Sandshrew who waste no time making the weather even worse by blasting Powder Snow in what seems to be every direction. The many Bergmite beside them have no problem joining in and use their Icy Wind to continue what the Vanillite had started earlier. “Sandslash!!!” Suddenly, the cries of two Alolan Sandslash echo through the air, drawing attention to where they stand just behind the Bergmite and Alolan Sandshrew. There is a pause of silence where the only thing everyone hears is the whistle of the strong winds from the storm. This moment of peace doesn’t last long though, the Glalie at the top of the waterfall lets out another one of its cries and the new opponents along with the old, charge into battle.

In order to keep things organized for us to update, please use only 1 Pokemon in combat at a time and order up to no more than 3 attacks at a time. Reminder: this campaign will be updated every weekend around Saturday/Sunday, so if you are unable to reply in time do not worry. There is no penalty for missing an update; simply reply to the latest update to keep up with the plot. Please reply in DeepSkyBlue

Keith winced as Aster took an Ice Beam to the face almost immediately. A resisted hit, of course, but it was still not the most pleasant surprise to see. But this didn't deter Aster one bit, and the battle raged on, with Toxic landing flawlessly (as one could only expect coming from a Poison-type). It was a perfect first move- Vanillish had gone for an Acid Armor to defend itself from Aster's Liquidation, but the Ice-type hadn't figured on Aster's Ability. Indeed, because Vanillish was poisoned, Aster's Merciless Ability was letting her land critical hits without fail every single time. This fact brought a proud smile to Keith's face, though said smile faded quickly as he saw the gleaming aura Vanillish was taking on in response to the Venoshock. "Aster!!" Keith exclaimed.

"Ma... Reanie..." panted Aster. She had taken a lot of damage from the Mirror Coat- it was, after all, her own powered-up Venoshock, doubled yet again in intensity. A lot of damage, to put it mildly. But she was still standing, still glaring at her opponent, still resolute.

Keith gave a relieved sigh, but this was quite short-lived- at that moment, he noticed that several balls of ice seemed to be moving in. Keith eyed them warily... and then they all opened up, as did Keith's mouth- they almost seemed to be Sandshrew, but Keith had never seen Sandshrew like these before. He took out his Pokédex and pointed it at one of them.

"Sandshrew- Alola Form- the Mouse Pokémon. An Ice and Steel-type," droned the device. "In the Alola region, Sandshrew fled a volcanic eruption and ended up having to acclimate themselves to the frozen environment of Mt. Lanakila. In this form, they cannot curl up, but are protected by an icy shell."

Keith would have been more fascinated by these unusual Sandshrew were the situation not so dire. And then, he saw that some chunks of ice near these Sandshrew were no mere chunks of ice, but in fact sentient creatures. "What the-" he murmured, turning his Pokédex on one of them.

"Bergmite, the Ice Chunk Pokémon. An Ice-type," droned the device. "Bergmite uses the ice that shields its body to block oncoming attacks. Any cracks in the icy armor are easily fixed with cold air."

"OK, well, that's not good-" began Keith, when suddenly, a sharp cry interrupted him. His attention drawn to the source, Keith looked upon what looked like Sandslash, except with different colors, and also icicles in place of the usual Sandslash spikes. An admittedly awesome look, Keith had to concede, but this was not the time to marvel at that.

"Sandslash- Alola Form- the Mouse Pokémon. An Ice and Steel-type, and the evolved form of the Alolan Sandshrew," droned Keith's Pokédex. "Sandslash's steel spikes are coated in ice. These spikes can inflict deep wounds and severe frostbite."

"Good times," Keith remarked sarcastically, pocketing his Pokédex. At that moment, the Glalie atop the waterfall seemed to be commanding all present Ice-types to attack. "Gah," grunted Keith. He had to focus, he couldn't let a few new opponents arriving get the better of him, though with the Powder Snow and Icy Wind attacks adding to the already-present snowstorm, it was becoming so very clear that the Ice-types had the home field advantage.

Aster looked back at Keith, saw the worry on his face. It saddened her to see him like this- always a source of comfort to her throughout her life, Aster was used to being able to look to Keith for comfort and encouragement... but now, it was Keith who needed comfort and encouragement. Now the tables were turned, and now, Aster knew she had to prove to Keith that she had what it took. To protect him. To protect them all.

Raging snowstorms were pretty bad for visibility. A lot of things became tougher to see in harsh snowy conditions. At that moment, however, it became abundantly clear to all present that a certain sort of blue-white glow was not among those things, for Keith had absolutely no trouble seeing the brilliant bright light Aster was giving off. His eyes widened and his mouth fell open. "Aster...?" Keith murmured.

"Whoa! She's startin' to evolve!" Vinny exclaimed. The Camerupt looked on curiously- he had not expected to see Aster evolve so soon.

Indeed, Aster's body started to change shape. The main body got no bigger- in fact, if anything, it got a little smaller. The legs, however, grew quite drastically, changing from spiky tentacles to what appeared to be parts of a formidable dome-like shield. And the head spike got longer and sharper. And soon, the glow faded away, with a standing boldly in Aster's place, looking ready for action. "Aster... whoa!" Keith grinned, his usual confidence back in full force- the evolution of one of his Pokémon tended to have that effect, after all. Even if he didn't know what exactly the Pokémon now was. And on that note, Keith took his Pokédex right back out and aimed it at Aster.

"Toxapex, the Brutal Star Pokémon. A Poison and Water-type, and the evolved form of Mareanie," said the Pokédex. "Toxapex walks the ocean floor on its 12 legs, leaving crumbs of Corsola coral in its wake. The poison it inflicts on opponents causes severe pain for three days. This specimen is Shiny," it added quite unnecessarily.

"Toxa!" exclaimed Aster. With Ice moves flying all around, she knew exactly what to do first.

Keith blinked in surprise. He'd never seen a move like what Aster was using before. "Wha-" he began, before his Pokédex spoke up, seemingly in response.

The journey to the waterfall was hard on everyone involved, even Pokemon who would normally do well in this type of weather were having a hard time. On top of that, everyone could feel the ominous atmosphere grow as they got closer to their destination and once they all arrived it was clear why. Athena doesn’t even have the chance to get through her first sentence before she is interrupted by the unexpected ambush of Vanillite and its evolved forms. Knowing that there is no more time for talking, Athena and her Clefable immediately get to work fighting. Visibility immediately declines further than the storm itself had already caused once several Vanillite create Icy Wind to fill the area. Athena is barely visible and the trainers are left to think fast as there are Ice Beams blasting toward them from random directions plus an Avalanche threatening to crush them. The dark sphere whose cry had marked the beginning of these attacks sits atop the waterfall and watches.

The first Pokemon to start fighting is, Aster the Shiny Mareanie who had decided to burst out of her ball and insist on fighting. After deciding to single out one of the Vanillish, Aster charges in and is immediately blasted by one of the Ice Beams that have been shooting from seemingly random places due to it being so hard to see. This doesn’t seem to ruin any of her confidence though, and after tumbling in the snow she gets up and continues for the Vanillish she had her sights set on. The Pokemon’s attention is elsewhere so her Toxic hits without any issue. Now poisoned, the Vanillish sees Aster and lets out a cry in frustration. “Liiish!” The Pokemon immediately uses Acid Armor in order to defend itself and is then hit mercilessly by Aster’s Liquidation which does critical damage. The Vanillish is very angry now and rains down on the Shiny Mareanie with an Avalanche which quickly buries the Pokemon in the snow and hurts twice as much as it normally would. Aster isn’t done yet and leaps out of the snow mound and uses Venoshock, drenching the Vanillish in a toxic liquid that does a great deal of damage since it’s already poisoned. The Pokemon is clearly hurting at this point but isn’t ready to give up and uses a Mirror Coat which gives Aster double the pain the Vanillish just received. Both Pokemon are now hurt and panting while staring each other down.

Although Athena had practically disappeared in the storm, Happy the Flareon was able to catch up with her. The Clefable wasn’t holding back at all and was giving one of the Vanillish a serious Wake-Up Slap upon Happy’s arrival. As soon as the Clefable had paused for a second, Happy used that as his chance to Take Down the Vanillish himself before it had a chance to retaliate. The Vanillish now fights back and shoots Happy with a Beam of Ice which sends Happy rolling across the snow quite a bit and it takes him a while before he can regain his bearings because of the storm. “Help him out Selene! Use Disarming Voice!” Athena wants to make sure the Vanilluxe doesn’t have a chance to get Happy while he’s down and has her Clefable draw attention back to her. The Disarming Voice does exactly what Athena had hoped and not only hurts it, but it’s no longer looking at Happy. Back on his feet and not about to give up he uses his Rock Smash on the Vanillish and immediately afterwards blasts it in the face with Flamethrower. While the Vanillish is being overwhelmed with flames Athena sees this as an opportunity. “Selene! Finish it off with Meteor Mash!” The Clefable runs up as soon as the flames stop and pounds it with a Meteor Mash sending it flying. The Pokemon seems to be down for the count but there are other serious opponents out there so after a quick thank you Athena heads for her next fight.

Another battle was happening elsewhere, Millie the Miltank’s Thick Fat was thankfully helping her endure the endless storm around her so approaching her opponent while avoiding Ice Beams was challenging but not as difficult as it was for some of the other Pokemon. She also went right for one of the Vanilluxe and immediately Captivated it. With its guard slightly lowered, Millie charges in with a Zen Headbutt and smashes into the Vanilluxe causing it to flinch and immediately begins to spin into a Rollout smashing into it once more. The Vanilluxe is now angry and decides to take it out on not only Millie but everyone else around it too and unleashes a Hail storm into the already chaotic weather. Large balls of thick ice crash down and smash into Millie. Beside her is Balerion the Shiny Charmeleon who is after the other Vanilluxe who is further away. While being pelted with the Hail he uses his Ancient Power to hurl stones of ice at the Vanilluxe in order to grab its attention. It begins to charge toward Balerion but is momentarily interrupted when Stahl the Shiny Starmie shoots off a Confuse Ray at the unsuspecting Pokemon. Slightly dazed, the Vanilluxe doesn’t get to attack right away and Balerion uses this opportunity to charge in with a Flare Blitz, the flames cause the snow beneath his feet to melt but it is immediately replaced due to the storm. He crashes into the Vanilluxe and seems to hurt it quite a bit but also hurt himself. Surprisingly, the opponent is not burned but that doesn’t stop Balerion from clawing at the Vanilluxe with Metal Claw. The Vanilluxe uses Avalanche in retaliation, its confusion causes it to bury not on Balerion but itself as well. However, it’s barely phased by its own attack and comes out of the snow without a care.

While several of the Pokemon have aimed at specific targets, several other Pokemon have been holding off the incoming horde of Vanillite so that they don’t get in the way and before they overwhelm everyone. Stahl is shooting what almost feels like an endless wave of them with Swift and isn’t missing a single target. Whenever the occasional Vanillite slips by it is knocked back by a glowing light from Power Gem. Things seemed to be going very well for Stahl but sadly it doesn’t last. The Vanillite are tired of getting taken out with stars and work together to retaliate, all of them begin to hurl Icicle Spear’s at Stahl who is having trouble dodging the extremely large number of icicles being hurled at it and it begins to take its toll. Wildfire who used his Foresight to find a good place to fight, noticed Stahl having trouble and used his own Swift to start pushing back the extra Vanillite who were outnumbering Stahl’s Swift. This group seems to be under control again and Wildfire and Stahl work together for a bit with their Swifts. Somehow the waves feel endless, eventually Wildfire uses Heat Wave in hopes of putting a big dent in their numbers and it works at first but then it also causes them to fight back with Mirror Coat which hurts Wildfire quite a bit.

Defending from another direction is Kong the Slaking who currently seems to be enjoying himself but who knows how long that will last before he gets bored. He swings his Hammer Arm and knocks out an entire line of incoming Vanillite. And that about does it for his interest, he Traunts for a bit and decides to take a moment to lay in the snow and just take in the atmosphere. Meanwhile, he has been getting surrounded by a bunch of very upset looking Vanillite who didn’t enjoy being knocked around by him. Some of them decide to use Acid Armor in order to protect themselves while others ambush him with a bright Mirror Shot which surprises him. It actually surprises him enough to bring his interest back into the battle. He slowly gets up and looks at the group of Vanillite who flashed that move at him and slowly raises his fist into the air and then brings it down for a powerful Dynamic Punch. Of course, he completely misses the group that had attacked him since his accuracy was suffering but he does manage to hit the group that was covered in their Acid Armor and they are looking a bit confused. Satisfied with his only barely successful revenge, he is bored once again and lays back in the snow to Traunt for a bit more. Annoyed, the Vanillite begin to use Hail which pelt not only Kong but some of the surrounding allies as well. Akame the Pawniard wasn’t too far away from Kong and had just got done using Magnet Rise and was now dealing with the hail that Kong’s opponents had kicked up, fortunately being levitated helped her dodge some of the incoming balls of ice. After being pelted a few times and kicking some rocks out of the snow, it became clear that her Stealth Rocks were needed to not only shield her from incoming Pokemon, but from the large balls of ice being hurled at her as well. The incoming Vanillite stop their charge and begin to hurl Icicle Spears at Akane, breaking her rocks away and immediately overwhelming her with their attack. She isn’t about to back down though and decides to get some Revenge and smashes into a number of the Vanillite with twice as much damage as they were dishing out. They didn’t like being surprised like that and a few of them now appear to be starting an Uproar out of frustration.

Everyone’s battle is tough, there is not a single Pokemon that isn’t giving it their all. The Glalie continues to watch from atop the waterfall, seemingly not making a move but its presence can’t help but be felt by all. “This isn’t good!! Everyone, we’re surrounded!” Athena, who had been on her way over to help fight one of the Vanilluxe has just made a discovery. Everyone had been so distracted with their own fights that they hadn’t noticed that not all of the ice surrounding them was still. There were what appeared to be balls of ice rolling through the snow beside small moving glaciers from every direction and they were quickly closing in on the trainers and their Pokemon. After closing the distance, those balls of ice almost simultaneously begin to open up revealing many Alolan Sandshrew who waste no time making the weather even worse by blasting Powder Snow in what seems to be every direction. The many Bergmite beside them have no problem joining in and use their Icy Wind to continue what the Vanillite had started earlier. “Sandslash!!!” Suddenly, the cries of two Alolan Sandslash echo through the air, drawing attention to where they stand just behind the Bergmite and Alolan Sandshrew. There is a pause of silence where the only thing everyone hears is the whistle of the strong winds from the storm. This moment of peace doesn’t last long though, the Glalie at the top of the waterfall lets out another one of its cries and the new opponents along with the old, charge into battle.

The battlefield was soon ignited with activity as Pokemon clashed in tumultuous battle. Balerion was quick to follow orders as he honed in on one of the Vanilluxe that was leading the group of ambushers. He had aid from Starmie, who thankfully confused the Vanilluxe, making it much easier for the Charmeleon to close in and gain the upper hand. Spartacus watched anxiously as the Charmeleon fought with the icecream cone, shadowing the Charmeleon's movements almost instinctively. The Scizor had assisted in the Fire types training, he took pride in seeing his student excel in battle. Thowra was less interested in the battle, the flames on his legs had melted the snow around his feet, revealing the still green grass below. He munched at the defrosted food in an attempt to regather his energy, he could be called upon to fight at any moment.

Things were going well for Balerion, although he was taking damage from the Hail as well as recoil from his own attack, he was holding his own. Eventually the Vanilluxe was able to retaliate however, dumping an avalanche of snow down upon itself and Balerion. The Charmeleon thankfully resisted the attack, but it created an issues. The snow would make it hard for him to move, he would have to melt it before being able to fight to his full potential. The group found themselves under attack from another batch of opponents, but for now Jayson had to focus on taking out the Vanilluxe.

"Melt away the snow and charge into it with another Flare Blitz Balerion!" Jayson knew overusing the move would lead to the Charmeleon causing itself more damage, but for now Jayson was willing to risk it. "Follow up with a Fire Fang, hope for a burn or flinch before following up with a Flame Burst."

As the angry horde of Sneasels hissed and snarled, the group of trainers called forth their Pokemon, ready to defend the farm. While the trainers issued orders to their Pokemon, Weavile’s eyes narrowed and it munched on a berry, waiting to see who would face it head-on first. The two Cloud Garden trial captains had joined the fray as well, Jet’s Skarmory and Samuel’s Sudowoodo ready for battle. As they felt their advantage in numbers becoming weaker by the minute with all of these new opponents, the Sneasels grew restless and launched their next assault.

Blurs of black and magenta flew throughout the orchard as the Sneasel pounced into action. Bill’s Squirtle, Silver was first to retaliate, spraying a stream of Bubbles to knock a few of the Sneasels off their feet. Silver followed the strike up with a Water Gun to knock one of the Sneasels in the middle back into a tree and finished off the combo by ramming into it with a Tackle of his hard shell. The Sneasel slumped over, defeated, which did not sit well with its two allies that had been previously targeted by the Bubble. They converged on Silver, one of them striking him in the back with a Feint Attack while the other Scratched him on the shell for light damage.

Choux the Snubbull was the first to come to Silver’s defense, hey eyes glowing red and punched and kicked at a Sneasel with a flurry of Close Combat maneuvers, instantly knocking it out. As she panted to catch her breath, her guard lowered, she stared down the third Sneasel with a Scary Face, hoping to scare it off, but the weasel would not be deterred so easily. It quickly slipped behind the Snubbull and hit her with a Faint Attack causing her to become so surprised that her Rattled disposition caused her adrenaline to spike.

While all of the enemies darted about rapidly, only one calmly remained in place while eating its berry; Weavile. Nuhuko the Lunatone locked in on the big boss and fired forth a Power Gem, a reddish beam of light striking Weavile in the shoulder, causing it to drop its berry. If the Lunatone wanted its attention, it surely got it now. Leering angrily, the Weavile suddenly darted forward as fast as it could. However, once it got within striking distance of Nuhuko, the Lunatone released a blast of energy that distorted the very fabric of physics in the surrounding area. A cube-shaped dimension known as a Trick Room filled the clearing and appeared to warp the movement of the Pokemon caught in it. However, when Nuhuko turned its attention back to the Weavile, the boss was missing. Nuhuko began looking around for it, but by the time it was finally located, it was too late. Weavile had slipped into the Lunatone’s blind spot and struck it from behind with a Feint Attack for solid damage.

Back in the conflict with Sneasel, Choux seemed to be running circles around her foe as her Rattled adrenaline gave her an advantage over the Sneasel she had shown her Scary Face to. However, as the properties of the Trick Room warped the area, Choux suddenly found herself much slower than the Sneasel, who Scratched her vengefully. All she could muster after that was to clamp down her jaw on the Sneasel’s arm with a light Bite.

Caeda the Skarmory swooped into action next, crashing into the ground with her talons out first in order to kick up a Rock Slide that battered several Sneasel for considerable damage. She then kicked back off the ground and flew into the heart of the Trick Room, ramming the Weavile with her tough Iron Head. Weavile groaned as the Skarmory continued her fly-by, gliding out of range. Hotstuff the Charmander began concentrating deeply, ready to Focus all of his energy into a massive Punch on the Weavile, but was immediately knocked onto his back as a random Sneasel promptly Faked him Out. He blew forth a Flamethrower in frustration, catching the Sneasel more than the Weavile, but dealing a good amount of damage nonetheless. As the Sneasel fell in defeat, Hotstuff followed up with a second Flamethrower, catching the Weavile head-on this time. Weavile hissed as some of the snow melted and rammed into Hotstuff with a strong Quick Attack.

With Sneasel swarming the Pokemon from all directions, a contingent of Pokemon stood firmly to take them all on. Lune the Eevee made her best attempt to kick up a Sand Attack, slapping a paw full of snow in a Sneasel’s face to little effect. It did buy her time however to pepper it with a flurry of Swift stars. Louise the Mawile emitted a Sweet Scent from her Venus fly trap-like horn which lured in a number of Sneasel. She clocked one of them with a Power-Up Punch, her fist glowing orange and further bolstering her attack. She then grappled the Sneasel tightly and after planting her horn firmly in the ground, she flipped both herself and the Sneasel high into the air before slamming her opponent down on the ground with a hard Seismic Toss, knocking the Sneasel out in the process.

Meanwhile, Rotom as well as Belial the Houndoom faced off against their own mobs of Sneasels. Rotom began Charging up as much electricity as it could before Discharging it on a group of unsuspecting Sneasels for considerable damage. As it prepared to strike again, one of the Sneasels snuck up from behind and hit it with a Feint Attack for decent damage before becoming fried by a second Discharge that knocked it out and paralyzed two other weakened Sneasels. Belial the Houndoom picked out a Sneasel from the group and singed it with an Ember. As the Sneasel retaliated with a Quick Attack, the Houndoom swatted it down with a strike from his pointed Iron Tail, knocking it out.

As the remaining Pokemon converge on the Weavile, a number of Sneasels came to its defense. Looking to take out the Trick Room to regain their advantage, the Sneasels circled around Nuhuko menacingly. A pair of Sneasel lunged forward, hitting the wall of the dimension with an array of Fury Swipes which caused the walls to momentarily shake and glitch out, but as Lune offered the Lunatone a Helping Hand, Nuhuko was able to resupply the field with more energy.

It was now Leo the Spheal’s time to shine as the proud little sea lion pup barked his fiercest Growl in Weavile’s direction, getting its attention. As he then Curled into a Defensive ball, Rika the Espeon sped through the crowd of Sneasels, hitting a few of them with a Quick Attack before ramming into Weavile with a Tackle. Weavile was knocked backwards, losing its balance just in time for Caeda the Skarmory to swoop back in and ram it with another Iron Head. Leo then rolled forward, and with encouragement from Rika’s Helping Hand, collided with the Weavile for a powerful Rollout.

Weavile had taken quite a few beatings at this point and Screeched loudly in a combination of anger, frustration, and pain, hurting everyone’s ears in the process. Weavile began glowing a light blue before sending an Avalanche of snow and ice in all directions. Caeda, Rika, Nuhuko, Hotstuff, Lune, and Leo were all caught in the powerful attack, although Hotstuff’s natural resistances and Leo’s Thick Fat lessened the blow for them individually.

“Great job, guys!” Jet called out as he took care of a Sneasel with his Skarmory. The Weavile was breathing pretty heavily but appeared to still have some fight left in it. A few of the trainers’ Pokemon had taken some decent hits as well, but for the most part everyone was still raring to go. As the trainers began to assess the situation, an old and frantic voice crackled over Jet’s walkie-talkie. “Jet! We need you over here! Swinub… they’re taking over the garden!”

Jet bit his lip and summoned one of the Mudsdale-drawn carriages. “Don’t worry, we can handle things here,” Samuel spoke with a reassuring nod. Jet nodded back and addressed the group, “Looks like we’re needed over at the Rose Garden as well. You’re welcome to remain here and help out against the Sneasels, but if you wish to tag along, come with me! The other carriage will remain here if any of you need a ride later.” Jet boarded the sleigh with the trainers who volunteered to follow him and they were on their way.

~~~~~~~

It was a short ride back the way they came as they headed in the direction of town. However, before they arrived there, they turned west and made their way toward the Rose Garden. What was once a beautiful garden filled with vibrant flowers was now a winter wonderland, filled with wilted grass type Pokemon. There was a sea of brown across the garden as well, as a horde of Swinub had taken over and were grazing on various plants as well as rooting up mud and dirt everywhere.

The group fought their way through the icy little boars before making it to the center of the garden where they found Primrose, the young heiress of the garden huddled with her Musharna for warmth while the old gardener Poppy attempted to hold off Swinub with a rake. “Thank goodness!” Poppy breathed a sigh of relief, “Everyone was stuck at town, but my Gogoat and I fought our way here to protect young Mistress Nightingale. Gogoat didn’t last too long, unfortunately, and young mistress has gotten a bit of a chill here…” Primrose had Poppy’s coat draped over her shoulders and was barely conscious as the cold had made her too weak to stand. The storm had come too suddenly, and she was unable to escape the garden in time before it hit. “Alright guys, let’s take care of these Swinub so we can get Primrose safely back to town!” Jet called out, calling forth his Skarmory once again.

You are now presented with a choice. You may either continue fighting Sneasel and Weavile at the Oran Orchard, or you may take on Swinub at the Rose Garden. If you choose the latter, simply include the travel and your new orders in your response. There will be ample opportunities to move between the areas each week, so do not worry about being left behind!

Bill cheered for his Pokemon as they got in some solid hits in. His Bubble caught the attention of three different Sneasels, but Silver made quick work of one of them, managing to faint it, and someone else's Snubble came in and finished off one of the others. A big Trick Room came onto the battlefield, taking away one of the Sneasel and Weavile's biggest advantages, their speed. Though the Pokemon that did so is a psychic type, and against a bunch of Dark types, that would prove to be a challenge to keep up. The battle raged on but it looked like that the group was fending off the Sneasel army, at least for the moment.

"If we keep this up, we should be done defending the town in no time flat."

"Indeed," Trono's voice trailed from behind him. "But remember there are more areas than just the town. If the other group does not stop the attack on the waterfall, we might be overwhelmed."

"Yeah...that's a pretty good point," Bill said.

Though Bill had overheard that a group of Swinub was apparently attacking the Rose Garden. Finally, he can get an advantage over something. After all, in addition to being Ice types, Swinub are also Ground types, making them a much more suitable target for Bill, since half of his Pokemon are Water types. Even though, another thought crossed Bill's mind, his Finneon wouldn't have much water to work with, the river was too far away. Still though, something was better than nothing at all. He turned to both of his Pokemon.

"Trono, Silver, let's head over to the Rose Garden. It sounds like they need our help more," Bill said. The trio hopped onto the sleigh and rode off towards the Rose Garden along with any other trainers who came along.

The trip was rough, very rough. The snow was piling on pretty fast on these trails. It looked like the Rose Garden was going to be closer to town, but then they took an alternate path off westward. When they arrived, Bill could see a ton of Swinubs waiting for the group.

"Well, that's not good," Bill said, stating the obvious. "Well guys up and at'em. You still good to go, Silver?"

"Squirt!" Silver yelled.

"I think I will definitely sit this one out. Ground types are not the most...comfortable Pokemon for me to deal with," Trono told the two.

"Yeah, good idea. Okay, Silver, same thing as before, use Bubble on a group of Swinub, but this time use a second Bubble to defend against any of them charging in at you and then a Water Gun to blast what looks to be the strongest one of them."

Silver faced against what looked to be the closest group, and breathed deeply.